Cαиιиє
by Pjaay
Summary: She was a dog, and surviving the Zombie Apocolypse turned out harder than she expected. She befriends Smoker and Hunter, who warm to her eventually. Slowly but surely, she gains emotions for someone she would of never imagined...OCxHUNTER Rated T for Gore
1. Rain,,

Silence.

It was all I could hear; all I could _ever _hear.

The empty noise stung at my sensitive ears as I buried my head deep into my chest and arms. I pressed my long ears back against my head and huffed lightly as I attempted to get some sleep; it was made hard when the silence grew evermore distinct.

The slow pitter-patter of rain began and I closed my eyes when I felt it against my nose; which twitched accordingly at every light touch. I was the tiniest bit relieved when the cool liquid trailed against my face. I'm glad that my head was half out of the empty doorway to a shed in my back garden.

My stomached growled at my precautiously, to which my reply was my own muffled growl from the back of my saw throat. I hated that stupid thing. Always hungry. But, to be honest, I couldn't remember my last meal, and my sight was hazing over now and then. Never a good sign. Too add to that, I was extremely thirsty.

Weakly, I raised my head and looked down my short garden. It was too humid to sleep, and too eerily quiet to even bother trying.

I studied what I could see with little interest, and I allowed my boredom to take over for a while.

A red and yellow child's slide, a swing set, and a sand box.

I remember when my owner's young used to play on them. I'd be sitting from my watching post, eying them over to keep them safe.

Those days are gone; my life had been empty for nearly a week or so. I was chained up, abandoned, and left for dead. No way to survive without food, and the bowl of water they had left me was long gone.

I averted my eyes down to be silver bowl, greedily licking my jaws when I noticed it gathering the slow rainfall.

Everything seemed gray, I already knew my sight wasn't the best for colours, but the world seemed oddly colourless. Like the life had been carelessly sapped away.

Now on my feet, I began tugging at the rope that was tied onto a wheelbarrow full of bricks, for the millionth time. By head swung too and fro as I reluctantly attempted to free myself.

If I stayed tied up in this shed any longer, I would deteriorate. Even if I did escape, I was already too weak to even try to find some food. My efforts would be stalled instantly. I had no optional route except to sit here and wait for the horrid pleasure of death.

I yawned, not amused by the oncoming rain, or the fact I was as starving as hell. It could wait. Anything could wait. My mood had dissolved just as my will to live. Everything was caving in around me and making me feel like complete and utter shit.

My self-esteem drooped a little further, and I gave up with pulling against the rope. Plummeting myself back down onto the ground.

I realised then something that hadn't crossed my mind at all since the start of my ordeal.

Where were my owners?

What had happened to them?

Shaking my head, I growled to myself. They probably abandoned me and left for a better life. I thought they loved me. The older ones' young were so kind, so gentle. They used to brush my matt black fur every day. They used to play with me and laugh at me when I rolled around carelessly in their sand box.

Those days were gone. Long gone.

I rested my head on my paws. Closing my eyes with a quiet sigh, I felt my stomach roar at me again with deep hunger; to which I ushered down with a short growl.

I attempted to rest. The rain was now enveloping my head and making my fur slick against my face. The black and grey fur had been recently cut and was now growing out. I resembled a wolf-like animal, a husky almost. Husky slash Collie, if that was even possible.

My mane thick, a mixture of black and grey. My sleek back was also black with hints of brindle. My tail was thick black with the underneath of my muzzle travelling down to the tip of my tail a bright and striking grey. My eyes were a dull green. Nothing like they used to be.

Thinking nothing more of my long-gone owners, I drifted off slightly. Glad that the eerie silence had been replaced with a somewhat more comforting trickle of water and pattering from the rain.

Never again will I trust humans... They were the ones who left me, why should I still care... At least they still had the decency to leave me some water. Not that it helped.

After about another hour or so, my stomach gave a valiant attempt at waking me from my light doze. It churned inside of me and rumbled madly. Screaming at me from the inside and trying to phase my giving up on everything.

I snapped open my eyes and whipped around my large head to bite at nothing in general. If I could, I'd rip out my own stomach and tell it to shut up. If that even had the tiniest chance of ever happening... And if I could speak.

My tail twitched nervously when my stomach lurched for a while. My elongated portion of my spine whipped around my back half as I bared the pain.

I decided to do the only thing that would usually make me forget what was going on.

Bark.

... And that is what I did.

I barked, howled and yelped for as long as I could recall. Grovelling in my sadness and hoping for some decent human to hear me, despite what I thought to myself not long before. It tends to be only humans that come to the rescue of abandoned dogs. They aren't all as kind as some, but any human will do. Should do.

My rasping and deep bark echoed across my neighbourhood, a few nearby birds flittered away. My distressed monotone bark wasn't very loud compared to previous days.

It's not as bold. Not as energetic.

I closed my eyes again and impatiently awaited death, letting my drone of a bark trail away to a mere whisper.

My long ears fell limply either side of my face and the rain continued to sodden my dry nose. The only noise was a simple drone of rain until a sudden _whump_ brought me to my senses. I became a little annoyed at the fact I had nearly fallen asleep and was disturbingly woken by...

I raised my head, a little quicker than intended. A foul smelling human sat crouched before me. I couldn't see his eyes as his face was covered by a bleak, dark blue hoody. His arms were oddly taped with a shiny grey looking material, and he wore dark blue, faded jeans, that were ripped in many places and wrapped with the same silvery substance. He bore no shoes.

The human growled; my senses flared at the odd being, but I weakly gave him a silent nod. Before I rested my head back down onto my paws, being sure to keep a weary eye on the boy.

He approached me, his movements jumpy and slick. He was also weary.

As he came within a metre or so of me, I began to bare my teeth. This human stank of old meat, and if he was meat, he was mine for the taking, whatever the risk. Oddly enough, the stinking human bared his teeth back and flared his nostrils in disgust. He must have sensed my weakness.

I didn't blame him.

He growled at me and crept ever-so-slightly towards me; in an act of solitude. He raised a hand to his head height and gave a mere rasping growl.

I studied his hand. The skin was worn and grey his fingernails long and sharp; coated in a thick elixir of sweet smelling red stuff.

Blood?

Was that what I could smell that gave me the initial though of baring my teeth? Just because he smelt like food?

Huh.

I growled as hard as I could, trying to show my superiority to the boy. I was big. If I had the energy to stand on my hind legs I'd surly be one and a half of his height.

He growled a response. I found it hard to understand him, as he spoke in a language I found difficult to decipher. It was like he changed the whole meaning of the word.

What was this human? No other human has ever attempted to actually speak to me. Not in any way. This one seemed _to_ canine. The blood. No human I have ever set my eyes upon have ever had sharp nails and a blood caked figure.

He came even closer, the hooded being. I thought he was going to attack me when he swiped in my direction with his claws. My breathing hitched as I expected to howl in pain. But the only feeling I received was that of the release of strain on the rope around my neck.

I looked to my right, down at the rope. It was clearly sliced off from being tied tightly around my neck and now left me free.

I glanced back at the being; he was now directly before me and was sniffing my scent curiously. He was testing my abilities, and rating me from my smell.

He sat back suddenly, on his haunches. His claws groped silently at the wet ground and his mouth pulled up into a creepy looking grin.

He had accepted me.

I stood, my legs shaking from the weight of my thin, yet heavy body. I needed food. Pronto.

He held out a hand, alike what my owners used to do.

I raised a paw, and placed it in his bloodied palm, making no noise as I went.

He nodded.

I whimpered silently.

The rain poured down a little more slowly and quietly, a sign of the flash rain giving up.

My tail began to wag and I bent my head awkwardly when the canine being began to itch at the back of my ears.

I think I have found my way of skiving death. It's not the best resolution, but it was my only choice. My only way of gaining the freedom I had long decided to give up on.


	2. Shelter,,

I opened my eyes halfway. My body slumped over something, making me groan out groggily.

The lack of food was finally getting to me.

Opening my eyes completely, I then realized I was flying.

Even I knew that it was not natural for a dog to fly, period. We were wingless and our bones are not hollow.

I looked up to see what was carrying me; or what I assumed was doing so. My glare met that of the hooded boy. Yes, I was grateful for him rescuing me. But he had no right in hell to take me away from my home.

My throat mechanically growled, and I snapped at his hand which was wrapped around my torso to keep me against his chest. He flinched slightly but remained bounding across the rooftops of my neighborhood. I glanced back down and spotted an old friends house; he was a golden Labrador and had been a chum of mine for a very long while. His name was Bouncer.

I tried to spot him out, he was always in his garden, like me. Always tied up to his doghouse waiting for some food or attention.

Squinting, I attempted to make out the form of his human family. They were wandering around their garden with the red stuff covering them. Bouncer was no-where to be seen and his doghouse was in total ruin. I feared the worst but kept my bubbling anxiety at bay.

They boy later stopped, upon a warehouse' roof. He placed my large frail body gently down onto the flat roof and sat himself down before me. I sat also after gaining my balance.

He stared at me, crossing his legs and placing his claw like hands before him.

Confused; I cocked my head to the side, not quite knowing what he was getting at.

He leant forward and grinned, keeping his eyes and upper nose covered by his large blue hoody. His nose crinkled slightly and spoke to me in my language.

"_Dog_," he said simply, making my head twist further.

I nodded, alike how my human owners used to, if he was trying to talk to me in my language, I could at least be more like him. I didn't have the urgency to be rude to him.

His grin widened, showing his sharp pointed canines and blood stained teeth. The whole fiasco made me wonder what was happening to this world. To me, this boy, to Bouncer and his family...

He suddenly shoved a hand into the front pouch of his artificial skin, and removed it whilst clasping a chunk of raw meat.

I licked my lips awkwardly, eyeing the meat as he threw it forward so it landed neatly before me.

He nodded to me, giving me pure freedom to do as I wished to the meat before me.

I don't remember ever moving so quickly. I ravenously tore at the meat with all my strength, swallowing the chunks whole without savoring the taste. My claws ripped at the large slab of meat, slicing through the gristle and making a mess on the wet roofing. I didn't care. This weird stranger brought me food and I was most grateful.

The meat tasted funny. I finished eating and sat back on my haunches, giving a short gruff of satisfaction. My belly was now full and I was glad of it.

The boy looked glad also, he grinned at me more and licked his own lips with glee. He was as happy as I.

Now the persistent rain came to a halt, and I looked up into the eyes of my savior. Or, I did as best I could, considering the top half of his face was still hidden.

Before I could do anything else, the boy came closer and stared at my eyes, giving me a chance to see his.

They were a dull, bleak yellow. The pupil was so small I could barely make them out, the white of his eye was bloodshot and the veins were all visible. Something creepy had happened to this boy, and I really didn't wanna be a part of it.

He growled lowly, and withdrew from being close to me. I began to wag my tail with happiness; glad the boy had helped me.

He took a breath and said something to me in my language, although it was hard to make out.

"_Me... Hunter... your name... dog," _He seemed to find it hard to grasp my language, and considering I hadn't spoken to him yet, I decided to tell him my name.

I cocked my head to the side in a manner I always seemed to use around strangers;

"Shadow," I corrected, my voice rasping because of misuse. My language was mainly just growls, huffs and light barks. No human has ever realized the complexity of it all, never have they ever bothered to really try to communicate with us dogs. But this boy, Hunter, seemed to be getting an oddly quick grasp of it.

He seemed glad at my name. Glad at the fact I had a decent one compared to 'Spot' as what my previous owners used to call me. Shadow is much more badass, in no way was I a spotted dog.

I Bent down low and rested in the oddly corrugated iron roofing.

Hunter looked at me awkwardly and smiled,

"_Back to... home... mine," _He stated with trouble, motioning onwards with his head; past me and through a forest.

I followed his quiet gaze before looking back at him with the green brightness returning back into my stare.

He seemed enlightened by my unmeant puppy-dog eyes and stood up triumphantly. He picked my still weak body up with ease and leapt forward using his powerful hind legs. His body eagerly lurched forward in bounds of energy, obviously in want of showing me his abode.

He leapt through the high branches in the large forest with ease, finding it impossibly simple to jump from each high branch to another.

I let my tongue carelessly fall from the confines of my muzzle as I raised my head and savored the feeling of the cool, moist breeze against my head.

Eventually, Hunter stopped at a ransacked looking house; he leapt in through an open window into a wide looking room with a boarded up opening to the lower levels and placed me gently down onto the floor.

I studied the features of the room. The flooring was a bare floorboard, with a large square blue rug in the middle. There was a comfy looking dark velvet sofa, the material a little tattered and worn, with only one matching pillow. There was a bundle of extremely puffy and big covers all stashed in the corner, a easily distinguished dip where Hunter had presumably been sleeping. There were lots of dirty clothes covering the floor and odd pieces of meat. There was a small mirror upon an oak table in the corner; which also had a slim looking piece of plastic on it; and by the looks of it, had a picture of a bitten apple on the front. Weird.

I turned to Hunter, wagging my tail automatically. My front paws flinched and jumped around as I began to pant and wag my tail further. I had regained my energy and wanted to play.

Yelping quietly, I jumped forward and back from Hunter with the intent to have fun. He stared at me blankly. He must not play often.

I stopped, aware of his frown and his clenched fists as he crouched low against the floor.

My ears pricked upwards slightly when I clicked against the floor over to him and sat down beside him. Wagging my tail gently, Letting it sweep across the ground.

He turned to look down at me.

"_Need... tell important things," _He coarsely said, swiftly moving his body to face me and sitting down in-front of me. I stared at him in silence. Yet he carried on,

"_You... Not Zombie,"_

A zombie? What's a Zombie?

"_No infection in... eyes. You... weaker..._"

I gave a short growl at his last pained remark, baring my teeth slightly and cocking my head to the side.

"I'm not weak," I bluntly barked, looked at him quizzically, "I am strong. A big dog,"

"_Yes... Strong for breed... Not suitable for... infection. No intent... Kill... Not able," _

My jaw gritted together awkwardly and I shifted in my position.

This human... infected, he was so different from everything I have experienced up to now. Before, the days were sunny, the faces of humans happy and bright. Now, The days were bleak, gray, usually rainy, and the faces of humans were either long gone, or pulled down into a blood curdling frown.

He looked down, feeling my pang of pain, before continuing,

"_You no longer... useful... I make you... better," _He searched his brain for the right words; making me remember about the fact he didn't know my language well.

I nodded in unison with him. My furred body quaking slightly when a fresh breeze came blowing through the open window.

Hunter stood, not keeping with his sentence, and strode over to the wide, open window. As if he read my mind. He dragged, with some difficulty, a large pin-board across the window, followed by a fridge, in order to stop anything else getting in.

I was still a little confused in what he wanted to block getting in.

"_You," _He grimly said, snapping me from a distant thought, I looked up, only to be faced by the back of his head, yet, he still spoke, "_...You're... Not ready... I fed... meat of infected... being. You change... become stronger... better... ready..." _

Completely baffled by the strange talk of Hunter, I arose to my feet. Feeling strangely awkward inside, from both his sentence... and something I couldn't place my paw on.

"What's going to happen to me?" I demanded, without getting a reply.

I snarled loudly from behind the high standing boy, and yet he did nothing to answer me.

My throat growled out again, followed by a substantial whimper which I could not help but force out. I clenched my eyes closed suddenly and my front half collapsed.

My heart began to race. The erratic beating became strong as my worry grew.

I opened my eyes slowly, when my stomach and chest began feel like they were being crushed and clamped together.

I kept my searing gaze on the boy, flinching only when he whipped out a hand to the oak table and brought back to his chest, a mirror. He took a quick glance at himself, before snarling and snapping his body around to face me. Shoving the mirror up close to my wavering form.

My eyes now stared ominously at my own reflection. Distorted slightly from the ruin of the mirror.

My eyes.

Oh god my eyes.

They were no longer a bright green. Or even a dull green. They were a searing yellow. Like a highlighter. The pupil was unrecognizable as a pinhead amongst the yellow mass, and red veins popped and traveled inwards, closer to my iris.

I whined. I had the same eyes at Hunter did.

He saw my distress and placed a hand clean onto the crown of my head as I writhed and squirmed around in pain. Darkness was creeping in and out of my view. I stared up at the creepy gray smirk that slid along Hunters' thin, blood stained lips. By tongue lolled out of my mouth when I came over in a hot flush and fell to my stomach. All my energy had been sucked out of me... and replaced with something I had never felt before.

Something ten times better.

My teeth felt different. Sharper, stronger. More deadly. As did my claws, which I slowly flexed. My ears picked up even more minute sounds, like a tiny fly that was hanging around a dull light upon the ceiling.

I stood. All my strength returning in bounds and leaps. More than that.

I felt tired, my head bowed so I stared wide-eyed at Hunters' bare feet.

"_Bed..." _Hunter ordered hoarsely, pointing at the sofa suddenly. My head raised melancholy, my eyes piercing the many colours around me, the colours that before were only given in a grayscale shade. With tints of red and blue.

I was seeing things in a whole different light, and as me and Hunter both padded out ways back to our beds, mine the sofa, his the bundle of covers, I thought about all the times Hunter told me I was not ready, and about these 'infected zombies' or something.

I think I have the gist of what he means now.


	3. Training,,

**Be aware that I won't update till I get 3+ Reviews! :D**

I don't know how to take it. It's all happening too soon. Way too soon.

That's what I told myself, over and over again as Hunter took me to an abandoned supermarkets'' car park. He placed me down onto the ground carefully, keeping in his crouch as I moved away and stretched longingly.

"_Shadow," _Hunter said quietly, aware of my distress to the fact I was now a Zombie dog, "_...train,_"

I whipped my large head to face him, staring at him blankly with my cold, sun yellow eyes. My pupils contracting the best I could. I studied his light grey facial features and red blood soaked body,

"_No,_" I told him sternly, gaining a little confidence, "_I can't train; __you've__ turned me into a monster,_"

He glanced to the ground as if he felt a little sorry for me.

I can't do it. I'm not made for killing... no... Well... I guess I am, but I'm not in that nature. I was the perfect family dog, loving, gentle, well trained. This beast wants' me to become something I'm not, he wants to train me to be like _him_.

My cold throat growled, the menacingly different noise startling me slightly. I never used to sound like that. I was in no way ready for this. At all.

I paced forward and back, trying to wrack my mind for a reason to why I was like this, a reason this zombiefied human had rather saved me than eaten me. But I was one of them now, I couldn't be myself anymore...

Maybe I should just wise up and join the craze.

Keeping my head drooped low; I faced away from Hunter, not wanting to look at him at all. He was disturbing me. I began to whine, the only way I knew how.

A cold hand was placed on my head, itching behind my ears slightly, and a face popped up in front of me; he was trying to persuade me otherwise.

"_Train,_" Hunter repeated, looking at me from the front, keeping his unnoticeable gaze on my face,

"_Fine,_" I reluctantly said, letting my paws scrape in a bored manner at the tarmac ground, I sighed in a way only dogs can sigh, and raised my head upwards. To look at the sky, the grey abyss looked back at me solemnly and forced me to obey my new owner. I had to like him, or warm up to him at least, if I wanted to survive.

I nodded to confirm my voice. Waiting from the first commandment from Hunter; who started promptly.

"_First... Jumping... Long places,_" He attempted to explain, making hopping movements with his clawed hand.

"_Okay," _

Hunter motioned for me to follow him, to where there were two cars, sitting aimlessly nearby each other in the corner of the car park.

The hooded being perched himself happily on one of them and checked to see if I was paying attention,

"_Watch... Closely," _he instructed.

He crouched down low, testing his calves lightly, with his claws grazing the paintwork on the roof of the car. He lifted his head and graceful leaped a quarter of the car park, only to lank cleanly on the roof of the opposing car.

I sat in awe, watching as Hunter jumped to and fro from both cars, and eventually settling on the one in front of me.

"_Shadow,_" Hunter offered, "_Your turn now,_"

I swallowed nervously, jumping lightly up onto the bonnet, then the roof of the car. I turned to face the other car over fifteen metres away from me. My legs began to shake with anticipation as and crouched low, my stomach grazing the roof lightly.

My tail swished lightly as an eerie silence overcame us both; Hunter sat beside me and scanned my position. I sent him a weary look, to which he responded with a brisk nod.

Okay. I can do this.

Right.

I jumped, like I would of any other time. My legs stretched out and pushed me forward, my paws bracing as I flew forward.

I growled with annoyance when I crashed straight into the boot of the opposite car, and landed hard on my back against the tarmac pavement.

Upside-down, I watched as Hunter gracefully leapt over to me with ease, showing he preferred to jump rather than walk.

"_Nearly,_" He commented, "_Need... Work on landing,_"

I sent him a sarcastic look, which probably looked more violent and menacing considering I was a dog.

I wanted to try again, so ignoring what he said; I clambered back up onto the roof of this car and turned to face the other.

I crouched like I did before, this time straining my ears and eyes so I could figure out a way to land. Ahh. Got it.

I leapt. Front arms outstretching as I quickly came to land on the next roof of the car. My elongated claws sunk through the metal and clung on madly as my body instantly halted.

Hunter landed silently next to me, grinning wildly.

"_Well done," _he congratulated, "_Much better... Still __noisy__,_"

I looked up at him; unaware of my tail wagging madly, I was just glad I had timed my jump better.

We sat in silence, awkwardly smiling at each other, or at least, the best I could towards a human with my muzzle.

He coughed awkwardly, looking around him for something to talk about. His wandering gaze fell upon two common infected that wandered out from the entrance to the car park, aimlessly lumbering around.

I felt Hunters' body shift slightly as though of something.

"_We,_" He started, "_Are going to... show skills... kill lessers'_,"

I snapped my large head up to stare at him, staring at him with awe,

"_We're gonna do what?" _I barked at him, trying my best to not sound excited. I knew what he was talking about.

He stood up from beside me, his oddly warm yet deathly cold presence being taken away. I swallowed nervously, as I watched him jump away to hide behind a dumpster; I watched him for a while until he sent me hand motions, pointing away from the lessers.

Reacting quickly, I tried my best too look good, and jumped upwards onto the roof of the supermarket. Landing somewhat gracefully onto the corrugated iron roofing. I kept a low profile, slinking down so my stomach pressed fully against the roof.

I watched silently as the two zombies came into range, and a small clawed hand rose from behind the dumpster; poised with the thumb up, giving me the go ahead to attack.

Hunter watched me steadily as I crept closer to the edge of the building, and placed my hind legs on the overhang, so I had good thrust when leaping.

The zombies, slowly but surely, came to be wandering directly in my line of... jump. I snarled quietly, gaining the attention of one. My still heart gave a thick thump of excitement when I found myself suddenly flying through the air, towards the surprised lesser infected. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Hunter doing the same.

I paused, unaware of what to do now. I stared at the surprised expression of the pale, decaying faced zombie as I crouched with him pinned beneath me.

Hunter was proceeding to straddle his zombie and rip the hell out of it with his claws.

Ah.

I did the same, unsheathing my elongated claws and ripping at the chest of my prey. I ran my rough tongue along my pointed teeth, recalling the changes I had oddly gained from eating the infected meat.

My head raced forward, and my bared fangs met the neck of that of the thrashing zombie. I clamped my jaws steadily around his neck and squeezed. Once I had gained a firm grip on him, I twisted my wolf-like head and whipped it back, pulling his throat along with me.

Blood was everywhere. The dark red sprayed in almost any direction available, covering me, and the surrounding grounds in the sticky substance. Hunters' body was doing the same, except he was being swamped in the lessers' stomach. Intestines and all.

Both of the common infected stopped squirming, and eventually gave in to a slow and painful death. Much to my own glee. Shivers ran up and down my spine, and I leapt away from my body. I was wagging my tail, enthralled at the fact my first prey had died successfully.

Hunter stood up casually from his own prey, picking at some organs that were clinging to his red stained hoody. He looked somewhat pleased.

"_That was good,_" He congratulated, coming over to me and promptly patting me on the head, making my tail wag further.

The wind rustled the hair across my body and warmed me inside, He jumped around happily, thrilled at my achievement.

"_I want..." _I breathed through panting, "_... to do that again,"_

Hunter smiled down at me, wiping his blood-stained face on his blood-stained arm. Which really didn't make a difference to how much blood was upon his face, he still looked like a mess.

After a few minutes of complementing each other, I pricked my ears to the sound of someone approaching us. Hunter raised his head also.

"_Yo! Hunt_!" A voice yelled from somewhere behind me.

I didn't care if it could speak, it was more practice!

I whipped myself around, and leapt over to a tall, lanky looking man with a long tongue lolling out from his mouth. He had a slight gathering of weird looking bubbles on his left arm, and one or two small ones on his cheek.

My land was perfect, and my large form and weight made the tall infected fall over with a crash.

I began to tear at his arms, which he used to protect his delicate face.

I snarled and snapped at him, trying to get closer to his neck. Trying to get closer to my prize-

Suddenly, I was hauled off of the yelling body and thrown a good distance to the side. I landed awkwardly on my side, and lifted my head to face Hunter, a clear snarl across my lips. I watched as he helped up the tall, smoking infected.

"_Don't!" _he started, "_Attack! Friend!" _

His voice scared me, it was loud and powerful. I stood slowly and cowered back. Waiting for him to punish me in some way. He obviously had a short temper.

He didn't punish me, instead, his friend, who was brushing himself down, piped up. In a language clear to my ears

"_Sorry__, I kinda just popped up there. Didn't mean to get you all hyped up," _

I began to slowly walk forward, not replying, over to where the tall person stood. He looked odd. When he stood casually, he leant more onto one leg. He constantly had smoke puffing from his body, and had numerous tongues spewing from here and there on his upper body.

I sat in front of him, looking up into his eyes; which I could actually see, compared to Hunters. He was pretty good-looking for a zombie.

"_I'm Smoker, or Smokey... or whatever," _He said, smiling broadly,

"_I'm Shadow,_" I said, cocking my head to the side. I noted that he had the same eyes as me and Hunter does every infected have the same?

"_Nice to meet you,_"

"_Ditto,_"

Both I and Smoker turned to face Hunter, who was standing cross-armed, glaring at us both from under his hood. He coughed from the second-hand smoke and looked down at me, the up to Smoker.

"_I am friends... with a smoking dude... and dog," _He mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief, only to receive a short chuckle from Smoker.

"_Your getting better at speaking,_" I offered as a conversation starter, I sat down slowly and looked up at Hunter for a response,

It was kinda sarcastic but he eventually said;

"_Thanks..."_

Smoker coughed and looked in the direction of Hunters' home.

"_We headin' back to yours' buddy?"_

"_Yeah," _Hunter muttered, unfolding his arms and walking in the direction of the exit to the car park, without saying anything more

"_Great," _Smoker said after a while, "_How am I meant to get back, He is __usually__ my ticket home. Now I have to walk,"_

I looked up to him with sympathy, his tall body towering over me.

"_Don't worry; I'll walk with you,"_

I received a small smile from the tall, strange infected, and we hastily set off in the direction of Hunters' home.

**Be aware that I won't update till I get 3+ Reviews! :D**

**haah just reminding you! ;)**


	4. Killer,,

**A/N: No more updates till I get 5 reviews! ~^-^~ Ohh The powers of persuuuaaattiionnn! Lol... No seriously.**

_"This sucks!" Smoker moaned, lazing back on the sofa with his legs stretched out the entire length of it, "Life has become so boring, no survivors, nothing to do,"_

I raised my head up to look at the lanky boy, who was puffing out smoke accordingly.

"_Lighten up,_" I mumbled casually, resting my head on my crossed front paws and looking up to Smoker quietly with only my eyes, from where I lay on the mat in the middle of the small room.

He sighed in annoyance and swung his long legs around to the front of his sofa,

"_Hunters' taking ages to get food,_" Smoker continued, totally ignoring me, "_Why wouldn't he let us come along?_"

I shrugged, taking his question as a rhetorical one. It didn't really bother me whether Hunter took me and Smoker along with him at all. I'd rather catch some shut eye.

Ignoring Smokers rants and grumbles, I turned my head away from him. I thought deeply of Hunter. The way he acted, the way he dressed. He was so different, yes he was a zombie, but in some way, he seemed dog like. I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy, but he seemed like a nice guy. Aren't dogs meant to be mans' best friend?

"_Shadow..._" Smoker said after a while, his voice was quiet and dull, "_I was just wondering..._"

I looked back at him, face full of questioning, what was he getting at?

"_I've been thinking, are you a guy or a girl... dog?"_

Laughing to myself, I sat up, finding it a surprising odd question. Yet valid.

"_Well,_" I began, becoming aware that neither Hunter nor Smoker knew I was even a _female_ dog, "_I'm a g-_"

Suddenly, Hunter came crashing through the boarded up window, falling face first onto the floor. He was clasping a chestful of meat, and his hoody was torn in a variety of places.

The window was now wide open, and many lesser infected were trying to clamber through, their jaws were snapping as they frantically sought after the fresh human meat Hunter was soulfully protecting.

I instantly leapt up and began to snarl and bark at the intruders, who slowly stopped and stared at me face on. To which I opposed them with even more ferocious snarls and growls.

One of the leading lessers' turned quickly and made for the window. I began to approach the rest of the small group. Eyeing each of them. Suddenly, the group's enthusiasm for the meat broke and they all legged it with their tails between their legs. Rhetorically speaking.

I stood tall with triumph when I saw the last of the commons piling back through the window, back to wherever they came from beforehand.

I heard Hunter collapse on the ground behind me; both myself and Smoker went to his side and helped him up, to which he began to groan;

"_Stupid commons... Followed me... They smelt the meat... wanted it,"_

I looked at him sympathetically and wagged my tail automatically. It thumped at the ground and made him look up at me.

Hunter flashed me a toothy smile, and hauled himself up the rest of the way onto his feet. He lumbered over to the table with the mirror and the odd piece of plastic I know to be a 'laptop', and dropped all the meat onto it.

I jumped up and rested my paws on the desk, scanning over the food and picking out pieces that I wanted.

"_I call dibbs on all that muscle!_" Smoker chimed, leaning over me and Hunter and plucking a large few slices of the meat away using his tongue.

I sat back onto my haunches and pricked up my ears when Hunter himself picked up a long line of intestines. They looked good.

I eyed his food, my body frozen as he drew the bloodied organ closer to his mouth. He halted suddenly when he saw me staring at him mindlessly, or staring at his food at least.

"_What..." _He questioned slowly earning my attention to his face, then back to his meat. After a moment or two, he smirked and held the meat lower, "_You want this?_"

He jiggled the meat around. I nodded.

He lowered the meat closer to me, and I took a couple of cautious steps forward, a little drool spewing from my mouth.

"_Nada," _He suddenly said, whipping the sausage-like intestines away from my grasp and stuffing them into his mouth.

I growled lowly and stared at him solemnly when he chucked me some leftover muscles that Smoker hadn't taken yet. I greedily ate them, realising my hunger. Before instantly sitting frozen before hunter, watching him bite the life out of his intestine dinner.

My eyes widened as I sent him a look he _must _have remembered from before he became a zombie. Those puppy dog kind of eyes.

He stopped chewing on the insanely long piece of meat and stared down at me. When we made eye contact, I wagged my tail unwillingly.

He grunted and ripped off a chunk of the organ, and chucked it in the air; to which I replied to with a brisk jump, catching the flying meat in my razor sharp jaws. I swallowed the meat without savouring it and began staring back at the hooded boy.

"_No more," _her ushered, giving me a slight pat on the head.

"_Fine,_" I grumbled, turning away from him and trying my luck on Smoker who was once again lounging back in his seat.

He looked down at me suspiciously before shooing me away with an elongated hand,

"_No shit Sherlock,_" He mumbled as I trotted back onto my moderately warm spot on the rug in the centre of the room.

The others finished up the meat, and eventually got settled into their beds. Smoker was hogging the whole sofa, and Hunter was sprawled across his many duvets'. Heat tilted backwards so I could see up his nose. Yum.

I didn't fancy sleeping on the only-comfortable-for-a-while rug, the sofa, and duvets looked so much more pleasing.

I stood slowly and trotted over to Smoker, about to ask him if I could share his sofa. I pricked my ears to the sound of his rasping snore, and decided to leave him be.

Now, turning my attention to hunter, who was _not _snoring, I made my way over to him and nudged him in the leg with my muzzle.

He didn't move. Considering he didn't need to breathe anymore, it looked like he was just a dead rag doll.

I nudged him again, this time with a little more aggression.

He moved now; his arms flinched and his head rose quickly. He glared from under his hood at the dog and bared his teeth accordingly.

"_Just dozing off... What want?" _He snapped, raising his torso slightly to get a better look at me.

"_Just wondering if I could share your... duvet. The rug isn't that comfy and is really scratchy," _I partially lied.

Oblivious to the fact I was desperate to snuggle up close to him in order for warmth that I longed from my long gone humans, he stood up. Grunting as he went.

"_I'm going to go change... Hoody ruined from commons," _He mumbled, wandering over to an in-the-wall cupboard and raking through for other clothing. He grinned and triumphantly pulled out a dark grey hoody with a zipper and no sleeves, "_Keep me cool on... hot days,"_

I purposely closed my eyes when I had settled into my bed, or _Hunters' _bed, as he pulled off his previously shredded and torn upper-artificial skin.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the striding hunter as he steadily walked towards me, his hoody unzipped, his arms bare, and his hood pulled up over his eyes. He seemed pretty pleased with his find.

As was I, my face grew hot as he reached me and silently bent down, picking me up from under my stomach and around my neck. Hauling me against him as he awkwardly placed himself down into my seat.

Still I said nothing, afraid I would ruin the moment.

I never realised humans' could be so good-looking, and that's coming from a _dogs' _point of view, and I rarely thought of humans in that way.

Hunter stretched out, I curled on top of his bare and well toned stomach and chest, He raised one hand up behind his head and let the other flop over my body, and he played with my fir a little.

I closed my eyes; the soothing feeling of someone twiddling with my thick black fur was so comforting.

Eventually, the tingling sensation stopped and Hunter quickly fell into a well needed sleep. His hand falling limp against my side. I slowly became overwhelmed with the feeling and need for sleep, and let the darkness creep over me.

I awoke with a thump, and I found myself face first on the smooth floorboards. Hunter quickly apologised and stood up from behind me, out of the duck-down covers. He rushed over to Smoker, who was sorting out his hair in the mirror on the desk.

"_Whaatt..." _I groggily moaned, picking myself up from the ground, grunting as I went.

A head rush found its' way to me, and I swayed around momentarily. A little miffed by the sudden awakening.

Hunter looked like a puppy of my breed; he was bounding around the room with excitement.

I ignored his jumping and glanced out of the slightly ajar window. The sun was barely breaking the horizon; it must have been at least four or five in the morning.

I grumbled to myself and trundled over to Hunter, looking up at him and yawning.

"_Why am I awake," _I said slowly, waiting patiently for a reply, which I got quickly.

"_Early morning hunt!" _Hunter cried, it must have been a passion of his or something, "_Survivors always... set off... Morning time," _

_"Yeah," _Smoker continued, "_Hunty here has a thing for survivors in the early morning," _

He turned away from the mirror and studied the new fashion that Hunter was bearing,

"_Nice Hoody, Hunt," _He congratulated after giving the shorter infected a good grazing with his eyes. He turned back to the mirror and kept tweaking a portion of his hair.

Hunter scuttled over to the window and hastily pushed the fridge aside, then moved the partially ruined wooden board. He hopped up onto the windows ledge and smelt the fresh morning air.

"_Lets' go," _he urged, gaining my attention from Smokers' hair. I casually trotted over to him and joined him on the window sill.

"_Fine, fine," _Smoker said, giving the peak of his shaggy hair a last flick, before striding over to us.

I followed Hunter and Smoker as we leapt from building to building, Hunter giving Smoker an awkward piggy back; at least it looked awkward, Smoker is a good 6ft or so.

I concentrated hard to get a precise landing, and just as precise take off as I bounded across the buildings and trees. My nose picked up the minute scent of sweet blood, and my ears picked up the faint sound of gunfire. Hunter must of heard the same, because we both came to a screeching halt on top of a small motel roof, our heads raised high, our teeth bared.

Hunter slowly released Smoker, who slunk away into the shadows, giving his farewell as he spotted the survivors from his tall height. The hooded boy crouched low and slowly made his way to the edge of the building, spotting the group as they moved along not far below us, unaware of out presence.

Smoker gave a sudden hacking cough, which he couldn't help, and attracted the attention of one of the humans. He had long blonde hair that fell across his eyes. From where I was crouching, he looked terrified.

"One of them smokin' bastards," The boy hissed to his comrades, one guy and one girl. His friends nodded in unison and turned to where he aimed his rifle.

"_We need a better diversion,_" Hunter hissed to me, snapping me from my trance on the humans, "_Would you mind?" _

I looked at him in a puzzled manner; it took me a few seconds to click in to what he was getting at. He wanted me to be bait, as the humans had probably never encountered an infected dog before.

"_Okay," _I replied, leaping out of sight, to behind a dumpster at the side of the main road, where the humans couldn't see me from their behind.

I did what came naturally, whine.

One of the females turned her head to my sound, and began trekking over to me, sensing my 'pain'.

I began to 'breathe' so she could be convinced I was an actual dog. I forced my whining louder as she appeared from around the dumpster and crouched by my side.

I looked up at her pleadingly, faking a wince as she ran her fingers over my side from where I lay sprawled on the ground.

"Danielle!" One of her male human friends called to her, "Get back here!"

"... But there is an injured _dog _here!"

She looked up, away from my icy gaze, to see her friends as they turned their attention away from the hiding Smoker.

Bad Idea.

I thrust my body forwards, as I heard the tell-tale attack call from hunter and the splitting coughs from Smoker as they both deployed their selves full on at the small group. I prepared to make contact with her bare neck of the girl as she kneeled next to me, facing her group.

My first encounter with humans; _**Check**_.

Successful? ... _Check._

_**A/N: No more updates till I get 5 reviews! ~^-^~ Ohh The powers of persuuuaaattiionnn! Lol... No seriously.**_


	5. Discovery,,

**5 Reviews for the next chapter! :3**

"_That. Was. Immense," _I breathed fresh from the fight and still overwhelmed with excitement. I had just completed my first actual human kill as a zombie dog.

Hunter nodded in agreement, from my right, as we padded through the small plot of forest that surrounded Hunters' isolated house. I followed his scent roughly as I fell behind our group when I tried to clean the blood from around my muzzle and off my paws. It wasn't the best feeling in the world, having drying, crimson blood trying desperately to cling to your fur. Plus, when you're covered in head to toe in fur, _and _blood, everything is made worse.

I caught up with my small group, and padded along beside them in-between the tall infected, and the shorter one with a hoody. Still, both towered over me, despite me being quite a large dog.

"_Where we headed," _Smoker asked, looking across at his friend, who stood a little hunched as he walked, through instinct.

"_I dunno," _Hunter commented, stretching his arms forward and yawning, "_I'm guessing that there's... interesting stuff... out of woods,_"

His suggestion made me raise my head, what would make him wonder what was on the other side of a boring forest.

"_Come on,_" Hunter cooed, running ahead at a casual pace, jumping lightly over fallen logs, then racing away, towards a large opening just outside of the forest. He seemed a little eager to explore.

Smoker seemed as confused as I.

"_He's never this happy," _The lanky infected grumbled, puffing out lots of smoke as he mumbled to me, "_He was always the silent type, sitting alone in his home or on a roof, waiting for some survivors. But he's been so much more... energetic since you've arrived,"_

_"Me?" _I replied simply, as we walked calmly through the foliage, stepping over the logs that Hunter went racing across,

"_I don't think he's seen a dog in ages," _Smoker said, laughing to himself almost._ "Ehh, I don't know, he's acting like he's found another Hunter friend or something,"_

I looked down, following my feet as they trailed me forward, thinking of a reply;

"_I guess I am 'hunter'-like, I jump around and can rip stuff up-"_

_"That's the thing," _Smoker interrupted, using the time we had alone with me wisely, "_I think he's just adjusting totally differently to meeting someone like him,"_

I looked straight up at Smoker, staring at him as best I could into his eyes. I needed to share with him something I wasn't really sure enough to tell Hunter.

I swallowed nervously, and my stomach churned to me as I opened my mouth to bark my response.

"_Smoker... Don't tell Hunter this but..." _I hushed down, keeping my gaze on the tall being as we wandered forward, he looked down at me quizzically, "..._I am not a boy, I'm a girl,"_

It was like Smokers' face exploded or something, I don't know, but there seemed to be an awful lot more of his smoke enveloping us than there was before. He stopped walking, and I stopped a little more ahead of him, looking back awkwardly.

He slapped his forehead with his hand, and smirked lightly as he eyed me suspiciously,

"_Seriously?"_

I nodded,

"_No way. Any other girl infected I have _ever _met have all been pussies. C'ept witch," _Smoker said in a hushed tone, obviously struck with the feeling that he was talking to a _female _dog, "_Urggh, That means he let you sleep on his lap all night, not knowing you were a girl dog?"_

"I don't know," I replied quietly, trying to tone down our loud conversation, _"I'm not sure whether he knows or not,"_

We remained quiet for the rest of our short journey into the large opening, to which I hastily whispered to Smoker,

"..._Don't tell Hunter..."_

I just about saw him nod.

We walked out into the opening; it was wide, and surprisingly sunny, compared to any other place in the town we lived in. It looked untouched from infection.

I looked around myself in amazement, the grass had been recently cut, and was dotted with so many daises, and it looked like there was no grass to begin with. They were splattered across the small clearing, reaching up to the sun as it blazed down onto their faces.

Curiously, I looked around for Hunter. Eventually, I saw him sprawled out on the ground in the middle of the clearing. Obviously enjoying the pasture as much as I liked the scenery.

Taking a breath of fresh air, I went bounding over to the hooded boy. Jumping around playfully as I recall doing as a puppy. My body leapt high as I sent myself frolicking over to Hunter. Smoker ambled along behind me.

I fell down beside my hooded companion, and lay on my back beside him, panting lightly. I felt so young. The grass rustled to my right and Smoker sat himself down, crossing his long legs and resting his elbows onto his knees.

"_Sooo Perrrdyy," _Hunter moaned, raising his bare arms so they were placed behind his head, sighing and grinning comfortably.

My paws were bent before me, against my chest, as were my hind legs, and my tail swished through the grass lightly as I examined Hunters' partially exposed face.

His lips were thin, and his nose a perfect kind of shape. His skin was a bleak gray, although looking rather toned red as he embarrassingly kept on phrasing on how amazing the sky looked. His hood covered his eyes, but I knew they were shining the yellow colour that all of us owned, except the fact they were probably so bright they would burn something if he looked at it long enough.

"_Yeah," _I replied, looking back up to the bright blue sky, gladly thanking the grey clouds as they happily subsided to becoming the fluffy white clouds that I was so used to seeing.

"_It is pretty abnormal," _Smoker added, noting how the weather changed with Hunters' mood, "_The weather is never like this,"_

No-one replied, and the wind picked up slightly. Bringing over to us a warm and comforting breeze that made the hair on my body ruffle gently.

Hunter sighed from beside me, a sign to him enjoying the breeze also.

I rolled over onto my stomach and licked my cold lips casually; I looked down quietly and spied a ladybird crawling around amongst the grass. My muzzle grazed through the grass as I poked it lightly with the tip of my nose, curious as always.

The small bug ensnared a small green bug before scuttling away, leaping up and over the grass, zipping too and fro using its small wings.

I turned my attention away from the bug and raised me head so I was looking at the smirking Hunter. He didn't notice me at first, but when he did turn to look at me, I realised I was staring and hastily removed my attention from him.

"_What?" _He questioned, obviously spotting me looking at him, "_Why... looking at me?"_

I turned to look at him again, remaining silent as his small smile disappeared, only to be replaced with a frown when I didn't reply.

"_Answer me,_"

I gave no answer.

I didn't want him to realise that I was staring at him because I though he was good looking. He'd never even want to see me again, never talk to me again, because I was a _dog. _Have _you _ever heard of a relationship between a dog and a zombie kid who never shows his face, I sure haven't.

Now he got a little annoyed at the fact I had chosen to blank out rather than answer him.

"_Shadow..." _

I snapped back into our moderately short conversation;

"Ehh – _What?"_

_"Why... Staring at me?_"

_"Staring? Noooo, No No! I wasn't staring at you!"_

_"She was staring at you," _The familiar voice of Smoker piped up from beside us both, and I turned to look at him in horror.

He instantly recalled to what he had just said to the open-mouthed Hunter. He slapped his hand across his mouth and sat back quickly, realising the release of his so-called secret.

"_You__'re__ a WHAT!" _Hunter yelled, jumping up and away a foot or so from me and the cross legged Smoker. I could instantly tell he wasn't going to take this as well as Smoky.

"_You are a WHAT." _He repeated, more sternly this time, looking down frantically so he could get a better view of my cocked head.

Prepare yourselves, because as I said before, Hunter is not going to be happy, considering he has become friends with a _female _dog like _me, _and let me sleep on his lap overnight.

He basically erupted, jumping around, then crouching down on all fours, baring his teeth at me and growling menacingly. As if on cue, the weather seemed to drown away with his mood, and the warm breeze cooled down to a wintry breeze.

"_You never thought to tell me!" _He barked, in clear English, no breaks or stutters. The anger was obviously boosting his voice, "_Why didn't you!"_

I cowered back, bumping into Smoker as I went. He placed a reassuring hand on my head, but hastily removed it when Hunter growled again. Pacing forward and back on all fours.

I tried to conjure up something to say back to him, but thought of nothing. I accordingly bowed my head lightly and sighed. He wasn't going to understand my argument, in any way, even if I really tried to explain it.

My head raised quietly, only to meet Hunters' snarling jaws before me, he was mere inches away from my face, and his hot breath made my eyes water.

"_I'm sorry I didn't tell you," _I whispered, my voice much different to before, it was still musky and rough, but seemed a tone higher, and a fraction more scared.

He growled lowly, not moving from his frozen stance before me.

I swallowed, staring him directly in the eye.

Smoker coughed worriedly, he wanted to just run away and hide when Hunter exploded.

Hunters' breathing hastened, and he leant in closer to me, lips pulling closed in a tight pout.

"_Any more secrets?" _He hissed sarcastically, spitting directly onto the end of my muzzle.

His nose flared as he breathed deeper, trying his best to put me off.

I shook my head, signalling him my truth. I had no other secrets being kept from him, and that was how it was staying. The only half-true thing I was going to keep silent was the fact I liked him, lots.

"_No," _

_"Good,"_

He reached out quietly, and as he sat back on his haunches, he began patting me lightly on the crown of my head. He caressed my ears lovingly and smiled slightly when his scratching made my head move to the side with awe. Ohhh It felt so guuurd to have ears scratched.

Hunter did something I hadn't expected him to do. He leant forward and enveloped my whole, large body in a tight hug. I heard the resulting cough from the lanky boy sitting behind us.

It was almost as if he was purring into my fur. Hunter buried himself in my thick black coat and chuckled lightly, mostly to himself. He hugged me close, very tightly, savouring the quick embrace.

He let me go and sat back triumphantly, grinning madly. He crossed his arms and smiled at me more.

My heart was racing. It was so strange of Hunter to be acting like _this._

I felt Smoker shift around behind me, and lean in towards my high pricked ears. He had no need in moving forward, as I would have been able to hear him whisper anyhow. I guess he did it so I knew he was talking to me.

"_I told you he acted strange around you," _Smoker whispered,

"Yeah," I half-mindedly said back, whilst staring deep into Hunters' visibly gleaming yellow eyes.

**5 Reviews for the next chapter! :) Please?**

**~Emma**


	6. Sound,,

**Hello! I'm soooo sorry this one took a while! I got banned from my laptop... which isn't good... and it's such a loooong story! But... Enough about me!**

**Remember! : 6 reviews before the next chapter appears! Thanks for the reviews so far!**

It was raining.

I'm guessing Hunter wasn't a lover for rain, as we stayed cooped up in his home for the whole day. Hunter himself was lounging on his duvet, picking meat out from under his nails. Smoker was sitting on his sofa tying and untying his shoes, and I was sitting casually on my mat, swishing my tail to and fro across the ground.

We had left Hunters window open, as we had no meat to bait the commons, and the rain kept them at bay anyhow.

I faced the window, smiling inside when the rain poured out upon my face; reminding me of the time Hunter found me, a few days back. The wind blew at my cold fur, making me shiver as a result.

I was glad he had hugged me, the evening before, he had showed me that he didn't care I was a girl, or a dog. That he had accepted me. Smoker says it was odd due to his rampage of topsy-turvy emotions.

Yawning, I stood slowly, and made my way towards Hunter. He raised his head as I approached, showing no emotions. He let me jump up onto his lap and curl tightly into a ball.

He then handled me differently. Instead of merely scratching and playing with my fur. He ran his hand up and down my long back, caressing my fur gently, letting his long nails dig deep through my fur and run down my spine.

I shifted in my spot and lifted my head so I stared blankly up at Hunter. Without saying a word. He looked back down at me quizzically. I smiled to myself when I realised I could see his bright yellow eyes again.

Neither of us communicated, but hunter moved his hand from my back and scratched lightly under my chin.

"_I like dogs," _he whispered, "_I like you,"_

My emotions heightened, and I nodded total agreement, earning me a toothy grin from the infected.

Smoker yawned and stood up from his sagging, velvet sofa. He lumbered over to the blood stained desk. Curiously, he poked at and prodded the laptop; I guessed he didn't know what it was.

Eventually, he managed to flip open the lid, and stared in amazement at the assortment of buttons, and the large, flat, blank screen that bore his dull reflection.

"_That's a laptop," _I said automatically, assuming he was going to ask, "_Humans would use it to store stuff like photos, music and videos. They can use it to talk to people in other houses if they can't meet in real life,"_

Smoker looked back at me, and sent me a sly look,

"_How do you know so much 'bout it?" He asked,_

_"Because my old human owners used to have one,"_

Smokers' lips formed a slight 'O' Shape, and turned back to the laptop, he pressed a few of the buttons curiously, until he pressed one that made a light pop up onto the screen.

He jumped back a few feet, staring at the screen as it loaded.

Curious to see what was on the laptop, I got up off of Hunters' lap, and trotted to meet the bewildered Smoker as he peered over the seat which sat beneath the desk, and stared ominously into the bright light of the laptop.

"_Windows XP Home Premium," _I read, as the small computer loaded to the stage of logging on.

I explained shortly to Smoker how to use the mouse-pad, as I had seen my owners do beforehand, and soon he had logged on to the password-free account, and was staring, dazed at the desktop.

"_I don't understand any of this," _He murmured.

_"Luck I can read," _I shot back jokingly,

I heard Hunter shift from behind us, but paid more attention to the laptops' screen as Smoker flicked through some files that were on the desktop, one was labelled '_music'_. He double-clicked on the file, and up popped lots of more files, all with different names. I presumed they were songs.

Smoker filed through them, trying to find a name he liked the most, even though he couldn't read human, he still found an interesting song that I had only heard a few times before.

The music suddenly blared from the built-in speakers of the laptop; it was named 'Let It Die, by Three Days Grace". It was a good song from Smokers' point of view, but Hunter proved otherwise, as he sprang to his feet, covering his sensitive ears as the music rang out through the considerably small house.

_We had fire in our eyes  
In the beginning I  
Never felt so alive  
In the beginning you  
You blame me but  
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try  
I just don't want to hear it anymore_

I swear I never meant to let it die  
I just don't care about you anymore  
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try  
I just don't care about you anymore

We had time on our side  
In the beginning we  
We had nothing to hide  
In the beginning you  
You blame me but  
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try  
I just don't want to hear it anymore

I swear I never meant to let it die  
I just don't care about you anymore  
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try  
I just don't care about you anymore

You say that I didn't try  
You say that I didn't try  
You say that I didn't try

I swear I never meant to let it die  
I just don't care about you anymore  
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try  
I just don't care about you anymore  
I just don't care about you anymore  
I just don't care about you anymore  
I just don't care about you anymore  
I just don't care about you anymore 

Hunter screeched loudly when Smoker fumbled meekly around with the music spitting device, until his last result was punching it directly in the screen. Which sent glass flying and halted the music instantly; now it was only a faint buzzing. So Smoker mashed the keyboard until all noise was completely halted.

"_You didn't have to do that," _I bluntly told him, stepping back from the laptop which was now in ruins, and sat down beside the twitching Hunter, who was crouched on my mat.

"_Meh,_" Smoker shrugged.

Hunter looked up towards the window, staring past me, and blankly stated;

"_Rain has stopped. Hunt now?"_

_"Yeah, I am getting a little hungry," _Smoker replied, standing up, with a short stretch and a minor cough.

I stood and made my way to the window, and we all set out hastily towards the shopping centre, aware that the halt of the rain wouldn't last long.

I let my tongue flap carelessly out of my mouth, as I jumped from building to building, whilst being followed by the surprisingly fast running Smoker. Unfortunately he could jump as far, and his reflexes were rubbish. Because every drop of spit that left my tongue hit him directly in the centre of the forehead. Every time.

Eventually we came to stop in the abandoned car park where I first learnt how to jump around and stuff. Smoker grumbled lightly as he wiped my sticky spit away from his grey face, shooting me equally annoyed glances.

Suddenly, Hunter, who was crouched down lightly, sat up erect and raised a claw instinctively, sniffing lightly at the air.

"_Smell humans,"_

It soon caught on, because me and even Smoker raised our head quickly to the smell of humans. At least four or so.

"_If we get help... Dinner will be good," _Hunter continued, signalling us to follow him as he ran casually towards the smell, which wasn't too far away from us all.

We all looked curiously around the corner of the Supermarket, and spotted the large gathering of heavily armed humans. The group was being lead by a man in a black vest, and an older looking man with a green beret and a cigarette. They all trekked quietly down the abandoned road, eyeing every nook and cranny for infected and supplies.

The rest of the group, directly following the tall man in the vest, the next was a girl in a dull red jacket, she was clasping a magnum pistol. Lastly, there was a dark skinned man with a red tie, who held a pistol in one hand and a small pot of something in the other... pills?

The whole group were talking amongst each other, some seeming more confident than others.

"_We need a plan," _Smoker concluded, rubbing his chin in question, "_They all look pretty tough,"_

_"Yeah," _Hunter agreed, rubbing his chin also, "_Boomer... should be nearby... and Spitter,"_

Personally, I've never heard of these people. From their odd names I guess they were both infected, one that _booms _and one that _spits._

We stared cluelessly at the group as the progressed away from us; we stuck close to each other and stalked them precautiously. Being careful not to alert them of our presence, which was hard with Smokers obvious hacking coughs.

Eventually, we bumped into the people called 'Boomer' and 'Spitter'. They seemed odd, considering one was massively bloated and the other had acid drooling from her mouth. But other than that, they were nice people. Spitter instantly warmed up to me and thought I was adorable. Boomer on the other hand, thought I looked like a wolf and was weary at first, but eventually got to the stage of patting me on the head and, to my annoyance, kept saying '_good boy'._

We all followed the group, until they stopped by a remote looking petrol station, and went inside for more supplies.

"_Here's the plan," _Spitter hissed, turning to face us with a scary looking grin upon her jaws, "_Boomer, you can hide up on the roof, above the door, so when they come out, you can puke all over them and make a run for it. Then, whilst the commons help them waste their ammo and weaken them, Smokey can grab one and drag 'em away. None of the others will notice the one being dragged off amongst the horde, so I'll spit on 'em all and make them __separate__. Hunter can __pounce__ one, so can Shadow, then me, boomer and the rest of the commons, and maybe Jockey, who's joining in later, can get the rest!"_

We all stared up at Spitter, who smiled wearily,

"_That's a friggin good plan you just made up," _Hunter commented, staring at her half-heartedly,

She giggled as a response,

"_I've been thinking it over, Heh," _

A few moments later, the humans were leaving the station, Boomer was above the entrance, Spitter behind a nearby dumpster, Smoker on the roof with Boomer, with me and Hunter were sitting behind a nearby car.

"_You ready for this?" _Hunter asked casually, flexing his claws on both his hands and feet,

"_Yeah," _I replied raising my muzzle as I heard Boomers' telltale puking sounds and spluttering burps as he puked on the yelling survivors.

The plan was coming into action!

**Remember! : 6 reviews before the next chapter appears! Thanks for the reviews so far!**

**i love the powers of persuastion ;)**

**~Emma xXXxx**


	7. Humanity,,

Rebound.

Land.

Sprint. Jump. Strike. Aim for throat. Tear at it.

Jump away.

Repeat.

The sequence I took into killing my prey. They were split up now, all frantically hitting the commons, and us, away from them as they tried to reload. The girl in the jacket yelled out as she fell, incapacitated, to the ground, whilst being swarmed by a few commons, eager to get to the puke enveloping her.

I saw my chance, I left my previous prey to Hunter, who was on him in seconds, and launched myself onto the screaming girl. I began tearing at her jacket, her face, and her chest as she lay wriggling beneath my heavy weight. I snapped at her violently, baring my teeth every time I withdrew from her.

Her expression was so scared, so horrified. A dog was attacking her, with gleaming yellow eyes and striking white teeth that stood out of contrast with her thick black fur. I hoped I looked cool, but the girl wouldn't of known, considering she was now half dead.

I used my ending move, leaning in with my jaws, clamping them across her quivering throat, and without a moments hesitation, whipped my head back violently. Sending her crimson blood surting up my body, and the girls squirming form falling silent beneath me.

"Zoey!" I heard a deep voice from behind me yell, before I could react, someone had kicked me in the side, sending me sprawling across the pavement, I just about caught myself. My side throbbed a little, but droned out as I barked furiously at the man. I alerted a horde, and the expressions of the closely shaven biker-dude fell in anger and disappointment;

"You fucking dog!" He screamed, obviously affected by the removal of the girl from his group, he glared at me, raising his shotgun, so it faced me square.

Guns. The one thing I _can't _rip the hell out of.

I'd never seen one close up before, they were always only a memory to me, a figment of my imagination that was labelled 'humans'.

The mans' lower jaw quivered lightly and he took a step forward, positioning the gun so it was blankly pointed at my side.

But still, I bore my teeth violently at the man and growled at him lowly, although highly aware at his power over me at that moment.

"_See you in hell," _he smirked, pushing the barrell further into my fur,

I then panicked, frozen to the spot, unable to move. My reflexes can't help me, however I attempt to evade him, he will shoot me.

Hunter, somewhere behind, in the middle of the horde, called out my name in worry, obviously spotting me with the odd looking biker. I also heard Smoker somewhere release a surprised cough, then a gasp.

Gritting his teeth, the man squeezed the tigger ever so slightly. It closed in tighter and tighter.

Tighter still.

My breathing hitched, and the bullet hit me with such a force that I was sent flying, my body flailed as I poorly attempted to land on my feet. The sound was quick to follow the bullet; it stung my ears, it was so loud.

My side was burning. It enveloped my whole ribcage and lower body, making me go numb and the whole side falling limp. I caved into the ground, a little glad the infection took away most of the pain.

I looked sharply back up at the man with the gun. My eyes burning into his as we stared at eachother feircely.

Attempting to stand up, I barked madly at the man. My sight began to fail me and I was aware that death was going to take me over, which on the first night, I was so close to evade. I don't think I can be rescued from _this _kind of fate. My body was now burning all over and I saw everything in clear shades of grey. Like the dullness of how my sight was prior to the infection.

I collapsed in non-existant pain, the bullet hole was large, and I licked at it furiously, trying to stop the bleeding. My breathing became faint and shaky as I realised I had been shot in the lung. The flesh aroud the wound twitched, and I became worried for myself.

I turned back to the man, who was now smirking triumphantly.

A black shadow loomed up around him, and a dog-like smirk found its way to my own thick, black lips. The hunched being suddenly wrapped itself around the man, surprising him well.

The frail body diverted the man away from me, and into the sizzling pool of remaining acid that spitter had spat. The new infected laughed hysterically when the biker tripped and fell face-first into the sizzling, green goo. I didn't pity him, but I bet that hurt. I watched curiously, he layed still, twitching slightly, as his flesh began to melt as it came in contact with the substance.

My paws felt wet, although tingling from the invisible pain, and I looked down at myself only to realise I was laying in a pool of something. I had no colour in my blurred vision, and only guessed it was my own blood.

The survivors were all dead, and Hunter instantly was by my side. Concern flooding across his bloodied jaws.

"_Shadow!" _He yelled, placing a shaking hand on my shoulder.

He was so quiet, so far away.

"_Shadow! Shadow wake up! Don't go!" _The infected teen screamed, worried fumbling around with my would, unaware of what to do.

From where my head was rested on the floor, I averted my eyes to stare at him.

His jaw drooped a little, and I guessed that my eyes were fading of their colour. Great.

I'm dying. I know it. Hunter knows it. I'm guessing the other infected knew it too as they approached me with caution. I could just about see Smoker as he jogged over to us, shaking his head lightly.

"_Your a good girl," _Hunter now comforted, placing a hand on my furry cheek and rubbing it with his clawed thumb. He was aware of what was going to happen to me if I recieved no help, and I don't think any of these infected people were trained in the art of first aid. Let along treating a bullet wound on a _dog._

I looked away, unable to face him whilst looking so weak, as I presumed I did. I heard Hunter cough awkwardly as my eyes glazed over and my sight faded completely, I began to panic as a result.

Although I feared looking him in the eye, I had now lost the power of sight. I couldn't even begin at finding his eyes.

With effort, I raised my head back up to stare at where I thought his eyes were. I then silently prayed I would be able to find him somewhere, If he chose to abandon me, and if somehow I survived. Pfft, right.

"_It's okay, Shadow," _He comforted further, feeling sorrow for my pain.

Indeed, the pain was getting to be now. As far as I knew so far, the infected caused me to be relieved from the pain of every-day wounds. Well, if I was a normal dog, I would of been howling my heart out right now.

The only thing keeping me alive _was _the infection, and there was nothing I could do but hope it took me quickly.

I stared blankly up at the blood smeared face of the hooded teen, he looked back at me with much more sorrow than I could of believed.

Finally, as everyone crowded around me, aware of not coming to close in worry of kneeling in my ever-growing pool of blood. Now the pain was here, and my closed my eyes hastily. The darkness was enveloping me quickly and I barely managed to feel Hunters' icy touch as his hand brushed over my face. At least I think it was his hand...

"_...love you..._"

The last thing I heard.

The shaky voice that whispered to me was the only thing I needed to persuade me of my decision. It was Hunters' cheek upon my own, not his hand.

I did attempt to reply, I really did. But nothing escaped my lips, except that of a hushed whimper.

Hunter breathed awkwardly into my ear, a sign he was staying by me. I could tell he was tired out from the effort of the faight against the survivors.

Now my thoughts were a whirl, amidst that of the pain that was zipping up and down my body. I twitched thoroughly as thoughts of all my new friends escaped my mind and I went blank.

... No feeling ...

... No sense of touch ...

I'd lost everything, all to the stupid barrell of a loud stick... The gun... I'm losing my life to the humans. The fucking beings were stripping me of everything I knew. Everything I'd worked for. I'd loved.

I contemplated my fatal existance on this dreaded world as the muffled cries of my friends drowned away to a silence. Hunters somewhat comforting breathing in my ear aslso stopped and the eerie silence that I had found myself waking up to barely a few days ago, had returned.

... No use to this world ...


	8. Reincarnation,,

**AN: OH MY GOD... GUYS! What's up with all these reviews! You guys are so kind :')**

**Don't you keep worring about shadow... you just read on and you'll see what happens ;))))) REMEBERRR: 5 reviews earns you a new chapter!**

.Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

.Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

.Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

It was distant, but still easy to make out.

I had to strain my ears to try and figure whether it was acctuallythere, as I wasn't sure. It was the only 'sound' that was surrounding me, everything else, my breathing, my thoughts, were a deathly silent.

"_I'm scared," _I though to myself quietly, unwillingly opening my eyes. Only to be met with a grey abyss of nothing. Yes, I was scared. Too scared to move.

My feet tingled annoyingly with pins and needles, and my vision fuzzed in and out of focus. My heartbeat raced in the back of my ears, and a headache throbbed through my temples.

After a few mintues of blankness, I realised I was staring up at the dark grey sky. The wind began to whistle through the nearby trees as they rubbed against eachother, eager for the disappearing light. My mouth was dry and my eyes stang, a sign that I wasn't blinking, and I needed too.

I blinked madly, my eyes watered over, stinging a little more as a gust of wind dried the fresh tears. They poured down my face, and I confusedly looked up to the sky for a while longer.

Slowly and silently, I raised my paw to my face. I stroked my own cheek in wonder as I was filled with doubt, my skin was smooth, sleek. Had I been shaved? What was wrong with me? Was this death or something?

I raised my hand further up my face so it passed my line of sight, and I stared blankly at the hand.

Hand.

No way.

I sat up, quickly. My eyes averted too and fro across my body as I examined my surroundings, and myself.

My legs were long and oddly shaped, I had flesh hand-like things on the end, they were bare. I wore the weird, uncomfortalbe, but oddly warm artificial clothing that before humanas would wear,.

My skin was grey, and the only fur I had was that which hung loosely around my head. It was black, and the tips were a bright red. I noticed that my Head was half-covered with another section of artificial clothins. It was a dark hoody that had 'too-long' sleeves and a black zip. I also wore a dirty grey vest, and tight gray jeans.

What the hell has happened to me.

I hauled myself shakily to my feet, twigs snapping in the process.

I looked down quietly at my hands and uttered my moral disgust at whatever had occurred.

I was a human.

My dog form was gone.

I had never really believed in _reincarnation_. To be honest it had never really crossed my mind, considering I was a dog and all. But it had happened; I had died a dog, and awoke a human. Even when I had before taken the time to think about coming back as something else, I was never aware I could enter into a body when it was not a fresh 'baby' figure, but indeed a teenager. I think my body was that of a female girl around the age of 17 or 18.

Yet, it was all coming true. And to be honest, I was feeling so over-the-moon.

I had been given a second chance. Yes, I had to get used to my new form, But I was intelligent. It can be done.

I wobbled around on both my legs, trying to move as the humans did. As I practiced, I recalled to myself about whether I was still infected or not; my question was silently answered when I remembered my deathly pale skin, and the absence of the sense of touch.

Taking a step forward, I began to hold my breath.

_What if I died again? Can someone reincarnate twice?_

Another step, this time more cautious. My arms rose out to my side as I caught my balance, to steady myself.

_Would I be able to find anyone if I tried? Was that possible?_

Now I was walking, slowly. My feet were wobbling slightly as I looked at my toes curiously. I admired the difference in my stance since becoming a human, their bodies were so different to that of a dogs.

I raised my head now, looking forwards towards a familiar looking clearing. My shaky movements as I walked casued me to sway slightly.

My swaggering continued as I slowly made my way to the now dull open space of grass. I was curious to see if I could remember it, as the memory was faint.

My sight was dull, I guess it was as acute as an infected human could get, but not as it once was when it was my infected dog vision.

"_Hello?" _I called out, My mouth making weird shapes as I formed the words and spoke them, "_ooo.. Helll ... lll ...oooo," _

Ignoring my rants, I staggered onwards into the full open-space of the clearing, taking in a clear shot of air as I went.

"_Is anyone here?" _I said, mostly to myself.

When I spotted noone, my eyes began to glaze over. The odd emotions that filled me with this odd feeling, one I had never experienced as a dog. We could not cry. As the tears fell onto my lips and I licked at them, the salty taste of my inner waters filled my mouth.

The wind was now wailing through the nearby trees, making my human stomach churn unexpectedly as I realised how afraid I was. Withough my thick, black fur, I felt powerless and weak, like death would once again take me at any second.

I had reached the centre of the clearing now, and my legs wobbled slightly as I collapsed to my knees. My hood fell further across my face, shielding it from the blistering wind. I sniffed quietly as I failed to recall what the clearing meant to me, although the memory was distinctly in my mind.

After a few minutes of sobbing in the middle of this feild, my ears seemingly pricked when the sound of footsteps started up. I didn't raised my head, but I flexed my hands, which bore another symbol to me being infected; short, yet sharp, claws.

"_Hey," _A voice asked, it was rough and gritty, yet held some sympathy.

Now I looked up, to see who it was approaching me.

"_Hi_" I curiously said, as the tall being reached me and held out a hand for me to take. I did so and was helped to stand up onto my bare feet.

I looked at the other infected as he bashfully looked around himself, aware I was staring.

He was definately tall. He has smoke freely flowing from odd pores across his body, and had a lolling tongue that almost grazed the ground. He was also, fairly good-looking, considering he was a zombie and all.

"_Do I know you?" _I asked quietly, earning the boys head to be consequently raised,

"_No, why?" _

He was so sad, upset looking. Like something had happened to him that only he could understand. He seemed to upset to talk to normally, as if he would only attempt to reply with small-talk.

"_Nevermind," _I replied, lowering my head slightly and staring at the grass, I pursed my lips after I said the phrase, still marvelling over the power of human speech, I then raised my head again to stare at him, "_Whats your name?"_

_"Smoker, you?" _

My eyes whipped open completely and I raised a shocked head to meet the equally shocked Smoker. He looked a little confused.

What was my name? And why did his name ring such a loud bell?

"_My name... is.. isss... S..." _I didn't know, and a few seconds passed where a flashback entered my memory and sent me blabbering to the tall infected;

"_Shadow," I corrected, my voice rasping because of misuse. My language was mainly just growls, huffs and light barks. No human has ever realized the complexity of it all, never have they ever bothered to really try to communicate with us dogs. But this boy, Hunter, seemed to be getting an oddly quick grasp of it._

_He seemed glad at my name. Glad at the fact I had a decent one compared to 'Spot' as what my previous owners used to call me. Shadow is much more badass, in no way was I a spotted dog._

_I Bent down low and rested in the oddly corrugated iron roofing._

_Hunter looked at me awkwardly and smiled,_

_"_..._Shadow..." _I whispered, mainly to myself, "_My name is Shadow..."_

Now I looked up, a little more pleased at myself for remembering.

"_What?" _Smoker spluttered, oddly shocked by the choice of name, "_It... C-Can't be that,"_

Everything was flooding back to me now. Everything. I remembered who I was, who he was... who I had last been with in this small meadow. The one I wanted to be with, who I wanted desperately to find at that moment. I had promised him that at my death, and finding him will be easy now Smoker has found me.

"_Yeah!" _I suddenly piped up, looking at him with a little glee, "_It's me! Shadow! The dog! I came back as a human!" _

_"Nooo Way! Reincarnation don't exist! Surely!" _Smoker pouted subtly and took a weary step back as I advanced closer to him. He looked at me warily, trying to figure me out.

I needed a way of proving to him that I was whom I claimed to be, a way of showing him that he can believe me.

I stood quietly, reminissing over my time spent with the tall being, trying to think of something to say. After a few minutes, I eventually chirped my suggestion to him.

"_How about a few days ago, you, me and Hunter were all laying here in the field, and Hunter then found out I was a girl,"_

Smoker flinched as I mentioned Hunters' name multiple times, and he looked down at me suspiciously. I nervously awaited his reply and blew someannoying strands of my blackhair away from over m eyes.

_"You could of been spying on us. I need to know something more,"_

_"Okay," _I jeered, biting my lip lightly, "_How about, when you were surprised that Hunter let me sleep on his lap without knowing my Gender? And that I died when a guy in a black leather Jacket shot me with his gun as me, you, Hunty, Spitter, Boomer and Jockey all took out a group of humans-"_

_"Wait," _Smoker silenced, "..._did you say, 'Hunty?"_

I nodded, a little confused, yet glad I had finally gotten through to the tall infected. He was no longer looking all drowsy and upset, and now beamed down at me completely,

"_You must be her! Only you referred to Hunter as 'Hunty'!" _

I was about to say something else, when Smoker grabbed my icy wrist and wrenched me in the direction of Hunters' house. My still heart began to flutter nervously as he stepped closer and closer to Hunters' cosy abode. I felt as if I was going to faint if the boy didn't recognise me.

We stumbled into the home, my heart was now racing, and I think Smokers was also. He remained gripped onto my hand as he entered through the window to Hunters home and hopped down onto the shiney floorboards.

I looked up hopefully, only to see something that I would regret mentioning.

Smokers hand squeezed mine tenderly as he realised what we were seeing. Tears welled into my eyes and I was tempted to scream.

I held it in. As best I could.

**Five reviews please! Then a new chappie ;)**

**For those of you who read these messages, I hope your enjoying the story, 'cause I am! **

**Sorry for no update, I went camping :S**


	9. Hurt,,

It was horrific, what I saw. I wanted to scream, throw up and die all at the same time.

It was Hunter, who was swaying my conscience to believe all those stupid things. He was crouched in the center of the room, he bore no hoody and his bare chest was revealed, his chest was torn and scratched in so many places, that It looked like no skin was there at all. Blood was pouring from every inch of skin on his chest, and numerous bullet wounds were planted in his left arm.

I let out a terrified scream, one which I had never experienced as a dog, it was high and long, I whipped my hands up to cover my mouth as I gazed over Hunters battered body. My eyes and cheeks were quickly sodden with my human tears, and my mouth hung open in awe.

Scanning frequently over his body, I stood as he yelped in pain. Almost instantly, I was by his side, sitting him up against a far wall and examining his deep wounds.

Suddenly, his sweaty hand thrust me away from beside him and he fell hard onto his back with a groan. Now Smoker was next to him, helping him to lean against a wall of the room, whilst I fell into the corner of the room and curled myself into a ball, whining to myself.

He didn't know who I was, as I was no longer a dog. I was a human who he only could recognize as an infected he bore no resemblance to. I was nothing to him. Just a stranger.

"_What the hell happened to you?" _Smoker yelled, his hands jittering slightly as he fumbled around with his ideas of how to save his best friend, "_Tell me!"_

Hunter groaned quietly and shook his head, locks of blondish brown hair fell down across his eyes, shielding them as his hoody once did. He was obviously ashamed of his face for some reason, but from where I was sitting, he looked fine.

My heart fluttered as I crawled closer to the boy, he looked at me suspiciously from under his hair and sent me a quick bare of his sharp, gleaming teeth.

I flinched and automatically did the same, my own sharp canines bared at him and he warned me to not come closer.

Disobeying him, I shifted closer to his quivering body and placed a hand on his untouched stomach, it was still rippling with the abs that before were only hidden beneath his hoody.

Hunter tried to protest as I gently stroked his stomach, trying in vain to calm him. I had no idea what this meant in his point of view, nevertheless I see no problem. My hand flinched and I withdrew it when he bore a fresh convulsion of pain and snapped at me wildly, although he instantly fell back into the arms of Smoker when the intense pain came searing back.

"_Shadow!" _Smoker hissed to me, "_Under the desk! Under the desk is a first aid kit!"_

I nodded my response, much to the disbelief of Hunter as he heard what Smoker had said to me.

Quickly, I dove through a wide assortment of things under the desk, my heart continued to race from within my human chest as I worriedly used my hands top search through the human belongings. A pencil and pad, an assortment of unused cards, cutlery... and a first aid kit!

I whipped up the small red bag and jumped back over to hunters' side. I ripped open the bag with my claws and removed a long bandage and lots of tubes labeled 'antiseptic'. I guessed the cream would make him better, so I unscrewed the lid and squeezed the insides all over Hunters chest. He screamed out in pain as both me and smoker began to rub it in. Whilst Hunter squirmed from the pain the cream inflicted on him, Smoker managed to wrap the bandage a few times around his chest. But still some blood managed to seep through.

"_We need something to help stop the bleeding!" _Smoker worriedly said, looking around himself frantically.

"_Use this!_" I said, removing my own hoody and passing it to the smoking infected, caring only for the welfare of Hunter.

Smoker nodded and helped a drowsy Hunter get the dark, large hoody on over his bleeding arms and torso, he zipped it up tight and held his breath, awaiting for fresh blood to seep through the thick material.

Hopefully, it didn't, resulting me and Smoker flopping down onto our backs as we realized how tired out we were from rushing around the wounded Hunter.

Now, all I wore was a tight, dirty, Grey vest top, and a pair of dark coloured jeans. My chest heaved as I panted heavily.

I rolled over and stared blankly at Hunters' exposed face as he leant against the wall, eyes closed. He was unaware of my staring, and my chest began to calm down, heartbeat and all.

Hunters' eyes whipped open, and without a sound, he coldly stared at me. His lips pushing forward in a pout. Obviously, he didn't know who I was and was a little peeved at the sight.

"_What are you staring at?" _He choked, his rasping voice quiet and solemn.

Alert, I stared silently at the boy and made no reply. It only made him more angry!

"_Listen to me you stupid common! What do you want?"_

My fuse burnt out and I exploded to him my reply,

"_I am not a common!" _I shouted, "_My name is Shadow and I am a hunter infected!"_

Hunter glared at me, mostly out of hatred, and the fact I had the same name as his so called_ deceased_ friend.

"_ONE, Your name can't be shadow. TWO, your pathetic," _he spat, in no way warming to my presence. I must have had a completely new scent in this human form. He moaned a little and bowed his head as his wounds gave in to the antiseptic and the pain left him momentarily.

Smoker was the next infected to speak;

"_Right, Hunter. What the hell happened to you?"_

After a small hesitation, Hunter lifted his head with effort to stare at his best friend. He held his breath before saying lowly,

"_Well...Kinda long story. I was killing, lonely human... Get shot... Bringing meat back to __house... Alone and can't close window at same time as hold meat. Commons get in... Attack me and steal meat..."_

Smoker bowed his head, he knew that if he hadn't left for a walk, before discovering me, that hunter would of probably be fine.

"_I'm sorry," _Smoker quietly apologized, following it up with his trademark coughing and wheezing, "_It was all my fault, I'm a rubbish best friend,"_

Upon hearing Smokers solemn words, Hunter forced himself into a sitting position with a few wheezes. He ignored me completely and stared hard at his friend, he was sure on what he hissed next;

"_You? You not bad friend... You come back for me... You best friend,"_

Smoker reeled back, as if his eyes were welling up and he was weary of his companion seeing him. The tall figure remained silent as he exchanged glances with me and Hunter. The silence was dragged on until Hunter sighed in agony and slumped back down against the wall, a sign that his energy was failing him.

"_Let me explain something to you," _Smoker confessed, sending me another weary glance, "_Before you fall asleep,"_

Hunter raised his head to meet Smokers' stern gaze, confused at the odd phrase,

"_This girl,"_ Smoker motioned to me, "_she _is _Shadow, She came back,"_

Hunter said nothing, and looked up drowsily at his friend with a face full of disgust, obviously, he didn't believe Smoker. The boy with the bare-torso flinched a little and attempted to sit up as a fresh convulsion of heat and pain shot through him. His blood was now slowly seeping through my jacket.

I held my breath awkwardly and hopefully as Hunter swung his head around and stared at me sarcastically.

"_She... no dog," _he panted, voice cracking at the thought of my previous form,

I was a little taken aback by his comment, and felt the urge to shout at him. Even though it's oblivious to anyone that I am clearly not a dog.

"_I know I'm not a dog," _I blurted, letting the urge take over, "_I obviously don't look like one, or in no way sound like one," _I let my anger power my speech as I continued, "_...You wouldn't even know what I've been through. Yeah, I'm guessing your in lots of pain, but your going to survive. I didn't. I _died,"

I held my breath, giving a short pause in-case anyone wanted to interrupt me, both both other infected were merely awaiting the continuation of my speech;

"_You don't know what it's like," _I continued, _"I fell into the depths of death and woke up alone, cold, and still dead. A zombie. I can't be what I was before, I can't look up to you in the same way I did before. So stop pushing me away and let me say this; I am Shadow, a crossbreed Husky and Collie. I met you about a week ago, along in my humans' garden. You rescued me, and became a close friend to me. I considered you my best friend. The I died, you cry over me, I come back and..." _I held my breath, aware of how far I was stretching the whole episode out, "_...And you barely even look at me!"_

Now I was done, and an eerie silence that I had been expecting fell over us. After a few moments of my speech sinking in, Smoker nodded his head in a confirmation of some sort, as if he was checking over his own beliefs on me saying whom I claimed to be.

Hunter, once again, made no reply. The only motion he attempted to make was to smirk at me from under his sweeping hair, he cleared his throat awkwardly, and raised his head slowly to look at me. Confidence overwhelming his features.

"_Is that so?" _He sneered, not giving me time to talk back, "_y-you think your her? You think... your Shadow?" _

Now he turned to face Smoker, a devilish grin appearing upon his jaw,

"_You found this idiot? Take her back, she's doing a rubbish job... I need no actress to pretend to be someone their obviously not," _He looked back at me with an icy glare, the smile long gone. "_...Go home to your mummy, girl,"_

That was it.

The final straw.

The last of this shit.

I stood, silently and tromped over to the boy. Hunter looked up to me in a confused manner, and was about to speak when I reached out and took a hold of the hood to my jacket. Without a moments hesitation, I wrenched my arm back. I tugged at the jacket till it was removed from the hissing boy, obviously he was in pain as the jacket scraped against bare wounds.

Quickly, I had my jacket back on and was headed to the window. I held securely onto the frame and turned back to see the writhing Hunter, and the surprised Smoker, crouching beside him.

"_Bye, Smoky," _I said casually, to the surprise of both Smoker and Hunter. Hunter stopped squirming and looked up at me as I spat to him a few words I had only ever heard my humans use, "_Fuck you. Hunter,"_

As I leapt out of the window and through the trees beside Hunters' house, I heard Hunter call my name in protest. He must of realized where he went wrong. But I didn't care.

My dwindling love for him was gone. If he wanted me as a friend, he'd have to come get me.

But for now, I was free, and as I leapt from tree to tree, I thought to myself about how lucky I was. How the infection had actually aided me in telling someone I hated them.


	10. Changing,,

Ten

The prey slowed, the leader signalling to his comrades of a ominous presence. Probably me.

I skidded to a halt, on all fours, behind an overturned lorry, and bared my teeth as the scent of humans flooded my nostrils. The smell which I envied in lots of ways, the smell I craved when my stomach screamed to me in hunger.

I watched as the first survivor looked in my direction. I knew he couldn't see me, as the lorry aided me with my camoflauge, and shrouded me in deep black shadows. The face of he human was hard to make out, but I could see he was squinting hard to make out what was in the shadows. My awareness high, I slunk back further in the darkness.

Now the human was sure of nobody being in my position, and motioned for his group to follow him. Well, it wasn't really a group, as there were only two humans. A male and a female. The male was tanned and wore only a tight white vest, he had striking blonde hair. His friend, wore an equally tight pink jacket and ripped blue shorts.

"_Sam..." _The girl cautiously whispered to her friend as I watched them slowly walk on, both clasping melee weapons close to their chests, "_...Sam I think there was something back there,"_

The teenage male was quick to snap back with a reply,

"_Shhh Delilah, I'm trying to think of a route to take,"_

As the two quabbled between eachother about whether something was behind them or not, I slunk around the lorry and hid closer to the pair, behind a large green dumpster.

"_Argh! I can't deal with you right now!" _The human named Sam yelled aloud to his comrade, who reeled back and crossed her arms with effort!

"_For gods' sake!" _She grumbled loudly, turning on her heels and striding over to me, her face pulled into a tight frown and her gaze concentrated at her feet,

"_Whatever!" _He called back to her coldly, "_I don't need you!"_

The girl was tromping over to me, and I worriedly realised I was directly before her.

Silently, I backed around the bin, so she walked merely past me. Her body swayed from side to side as she sat down angrily at a bench.

The wind was holwing throught the centre of the small down, and I eyed the girl suspiciously. Her parter was now out of sight, and her quiet sobs were now echoing lightly through the town centre. Where she sat was on one of the benches that surrounded a lonely looking tree.

Her dark hair whipped around her head as the wind picked up, I noted her tears as they dropped down onto the paved ground.

Her weapon was more than arms length away, she'd have to stand to get it. She was now an extremely easy prey, if no-one got to her before me.

I stood up, and snuck quietly around behind her as she sobbed some more. Her cries drowned out any noise I did make.

I shifted myself as I stood casually behind her quivering form. She still hadn't noticed me.

Her head rose slowly as I reached out to her slim frame. But Hastily withdrew it when her head abruptly stopped at mid-height. She still faced away from me.

I grinned to myself and leant forward, as close as I could before my cheek brushed her hair, I wanted to scare this girl, even though she didn't know I was behind her.

I held my breath before whispering to her;

"_Deeelliiilllahhh,"_

Her head whipped around, and she stared at my hooded face, my grin stretching from ear to ear, my sharp teeth baring menacingly.

"_Ahh! Don't hurt me!" _She screamed, feebly batting me with her hands, "_P-Please! Don't!"_

I grinned more, for I was in a good mood, and her pleading made me want to laugh.

'_I'm going to play with my meal,' _I thought to myself as I licked my lips quickly,

Now the girl, Delilah, was facing me, and tears were pouring down her face; she knew what was coming.

"_Tell yah what," _I mused, lifting my head so she could see my eyes, and so I could get a better look at her, "_I won't kill you, or eat you,"_

Delilahs' lip trembled slightly as she took in my answer, and reached out behind her in order to reach her axe, but before she could grab it, I whipped out an arm and caught her wrist.

"_Stop," _

_"N-No! Zombies arn't meant to talk!" _She yelled, although she was directly infront my my face, her free hand pushed at me roughly as she tried to escape my firm grip,

"_Listen,"_ I hissed, coming in closer to her face, "_I said I wasn't going to kill you. I feel sorry for your ass. That guy just abandoned you, so I'm not going to kill you, like I planned,"_

The other girl paused, as if in thought, and looked at me worriedly.

"_W-What will ... your infected friends think o-of you tagging along w-with a human," _Her voice was small, and her eyes were dulling constantly, now they were merely a smruky green,

I scowled to myself and lowly replied with my answer,

"_I have one friend, his name is Smoker, and I don't think he'll mind too much. I have no other friends,"_

The girl almost sniggered at me, when I mentioned I only had one friend. I saw this and quickly snapped back,

"_It's hard considering all my friends are dead!" _My teeth automatically bared and the girl withdrew from before me, her hand still wiggling in my grasp. She was scared,

"_Okay, Okay," _I said after a quick silence, "_Just to make you happy, we can be friends,"_

I released my hand from around her wrisst and grinned playfully as a small yet visible smile came across her own features,

"_O-Okay?" _She said slowly, as if she had no choice,

"_Great!" _I said hastily, bounding around slightly like I would of as a dog,

I grabbed both of her arms and quickly hauled her up onto my back, running forward as I did so.

I leapt forward in bounds and leaps, over the pavement and up onto the rooves of a small row of shops. Delilah clung to my hood tightly as I threw us both forward with my powerful legs. The wind was whipping at both of us, and my hair was getting in the way of my eyes. No worry, I can use my nose to guide us.

"_Where are you taking me?" _The girl hollered into my ear, to which I sharply replied with a nod in the direction of an incoming landmark.

"_A clearing?" _She said in a confused manner, tightening her grip on my hoody as I sped forward to the bright space between the trees.

"_Yeah,"_

Delilah brushed herself down casually, exchanging with me some weary glances. She was still scared of me.

Well, if I were an alive human, and a zombie started to talk to me, and whisked me away somewhere, I'd be scared too.

The wind had now died down to a mild breeze, the smell of fresh flowers was easily recognisable; it helped by ever-changing mood too quiet down. I sat cross-legged, casually before the girl as she wearily crossed her arms across her torso.

"_Sit down," _I offered,

Delilah hastily obliged and sat down opposite me, her trembling hands instantly beginning to twiddle with the grass. Her dark hair hair fell down past her ears, and was quickly replaced back behind them with one of Delilahs thin hands.

She looked up hastily, her eyes glazing over, the green duller than ever. Skin was pale and her hands were now cupped around her red cheeks.

"_I can't believe this is happening to me..." _She whispered to me, tears now were streaming downher dirty face, "_What do you want..."_

_"I wanna be friends, Delilah," _I said simply, trying to smile as casually as I could with pointed teeth like mine.

She looked away momentarily, her eyes tearing up again,

"_I'm never going to see Sam again..." _She muttered, wrapping her arms around her stomach and leaning forward in discomfort, "_He was my best friend,"_

Her choking voice made me pity her slightly, and my slow beating heart went out for her,

"_Don't worry," _I said confidently, sitting up straight, groping a muddy patch on the ground with my long claws, "_I'll make you an infected, and all your worries will be over! Techniquely!"_

I beamed at my own idea, although doubting my abilities to turn her. She was a human, yes, but I'm not to sure on the whole fact that 'one bite causes change' kinda thing.

Er expressions deepened, and her eyes seemingly sunk back into her skull as she soaked up the whole body of my phrase.

"_What?" _She hissed, her nose scrunching up in disgust, "_No way!"_

We fell silent. Her chest heaved lightly as she breathed in deep, her eyes fluttered madly as tears overwhelmed her again and again, and her expressions continued to change as I lent in closer to her.

Her mouth dropped in awe and her eyes flew open in disguise as I licked my lips and lunged forward onto my knees. Catching her off guard, and I quickly managed to sink my teeth deep into her throat. I felt somewhat like a vampire.

The blood from the artery in her neck spurted all up my face, and caked us both quickly. The crimson liquid was quick to fill my mouth; it was sweet and fullfilling. My senses flared, and I realised that I was indeed sucking at her neck, delving deeper for her blood.

Quickly, I came away, wiping my lips upon my sleeve. I remained with my lips pressed firmly against my sleeve until the urges to rip the hell out of the girl went away. It took a while, but I soon controlled them.

I watched Delilah as she squirmed around before me, clutched her neck as it bleed with her own blood, and a small amount of green fluid that I failed to name.

The grass around her was now dyed red, as were her clothes, her face, and her hair.

I almost pitied her as I stood-by to watch her quickly die. Although it was amusing, I felt the need to be by her side and comfort her. I was about to do so, but she had already fallen onto her face. Her arm falling limp upon my slightly bloodied lap.

She was now still. Her whole body was frozen and the bleeding was inching to a halt. Definately dead.

I jabbed her hand curiously, and let my palm rest on the top of her own. She was an icy cold. She was cold out.

I watched her hand intently, waiting for the telltale twitch that usually signalled her being alive, or infected.

Eventually, after about fifteen minutes or so, my waiting proved in favour, when Delilahs pale, cold hand twitched slightly, and she took a sudden, quick breath inwards.

"_Delilah," _I said casually, my eyes seemingly brightening as her head moved to look up at me. Her eyes a stoned yellow, I grinned more, "_It worked!"_

Now the brown haired girl was in a fit of rage, she sat up suddenly, her neck throbbing and swollen. Her eyes were saw and the yellow were gleaming freshly.

"_What have you done to me?" _She hacked with a suddenburst of coughs, she began to choke and her hands were insantly trying to sooth her bulging neck, "_What's gg-__appenning to me?"_

I watched, amazed, as Delilah coughed more and more, until suddenly something came flying from her throat. A tongue. Followed by a large flume of blackish green smoke.

I stood up and staggered back slightly, the smoke overwhelming us. It engulfed our bodies. My eyes squinted slightly and I could just about make out the rough outline of Delilah. Was was standing too. The smoke was barely thinning, and I assumed more was being added to it, somehow.

"_Delilah?" _I asked, amidst the smoke, I coughed hard and squinted more,

Nothing happened for a while, and the smoke eventually thinned enough for me to be able to see the girl.

She was standing at her full height, which was surprisingly tall. Her arms were crossed in annoyance, and her skin was a bleach white. Something long was dangling down before her and her body was puffing out thick, dark green smoke from the pores of her body.

She was a smoker.

"_Delil-"_

She lunged at me, arms outstretched and yellow eyes gleaming. Her mouth was wide open, revealing her human-like, yet blood stained teeth. Her own blood.

I pranced to the side, letting the ragin girl fall past me and onto her face. I skidded on the spot and crouched beside the girl, with one hand pressing against the base of her spine and the other pinching her neck. She hissed with pain,

"_Don't do that again," _I ordered, looking her in the eye as best I could as she wrenched her head around to stare at me, and spat her reply,

"_Why the FUCK did you turn me into a Frikckin' zombie!"_

_"I have my reasons," _I scoffed, pushing her head further into the dewy grass as she began to protest,

_"No you don't!"_

She roared out and kicked her legs back and forth, her lolling tongue was whipping around also. She obviously hadn't taken control of the long wet muscle yet, otherwise she'd be able to escape

"_Yes..." _I began, "_I do,"_

I let go of her neck and back, and in a huff, she came away from me, sitting opposite me with her arms and legs crossed.

After a considerable time of us sharing stories of pre-apocolypse, and she somewhat believed me of being a dog before dying and become a human, she looked up at me kindly. The look was one which I was hoping for, it was much more generous looking and way more kinder.

She continues smiling and giggling at me, her cheeks glowing a slightly redder colour with each compliment switched.

But, suddenly, her grin fades, and her expressions shadow over slightly. Her eyes poen wide and her back archs a little.

In a confused manner, I cock my head, and was about to ask her what was up when an icy had firmly planted itself on my shoulder, a couple of the fingers were on bare skin, and made me shiver from head to toe.

I moved my head around quickly to see who was behind me, and my jaw dropped when I realised.

He was average height, with sparkling white teeth. His torso was bare and wrapped in blood soaked bandages. His hair was sweaty and slick against his head, with hiss other hand curled into a fist by his side.

My throat contracted worriedly,

"_H-Hunter..."_


	11. Hug,,

_"H-Hunter,"_

My heart was a fluster, I'd barely been anywhere on my own, and it had been less than a day, and he had already found me. He must have known were I was going to go. Damn, I didn't think about his stupid sense of smell.

"_Shadow..." _He growled lowly, catching my attention well by using my name.

I said nothing, I was too afraid.

His hand tightened on my shoulder, and I flinched. Looking back down at the ground.

Although he was still presumably injured, Hunter's strength was highly admirable. His single hand wrenched me up onto my feet, and his other hand grabbed me forcefully on the other shoulder.

Delilah shouted out in protest, and stood up beside me. She stared icily at Hunter, trying to silently suede him from his grip on my shoulders. He didn't let go.

"_H-Hunter, let g-go of me," _I said as best I could, my own eyes flicking back and forth between his.

His only reply was a short snarl, his lip quivering as he bent closer to me with anger. My breathing hitched as he was mere inches from my face, he stared angrily into my eyes with his own.

I could swear, nothing could have made me feel any tenser. The fact he was so close to me, breathing on my face. Or the fact he had found me, and looked raging mad.

He was about to start talking, when a long wet tongue was wrapped around Hunters bare torso, and he was roughly pulled away from me. At first I believed it to be Delilah, but I soon remembered that she had no control over her tongue.

That means...

"_Smoker!" _Hunter roared out. Slashing at the thick tongue in vain, as he was dragged back through the grass a good couple of metres or so.

The slimy green tongue let go of Hunter hastily and an angry looking Smoker came jogging over to us, with a face that looked quite annoyed.

"_Hunter!" _He began as he approached us, "_I said don't run off!"_

_"But I had to go find her!" _Hunter replied hastily, standing up and brushing himself down, grumbling as he went, _"I was… Worrie-"_

Smoker was quick to interrupt him,

"_You were what, Hunter?"_ He mocked slightly, coming up beside his cross-armed friend,_ "You were worried?"_

_"N-No!" _Hunter snapped back, looking up at his friend in disbelief, and then glancing to me awkwardly.

I remained silent, as the two male infected squabbled on. I felt a tender hand poke me lightly in the shoulder, and Delilah leant up behind me, and whispered into my ear.

"_Who is the tall guy?_"

I turned to her and grinned slightly,

"_His name is Smoker,"_

_"Smoker..." _She repeated, looking past me at the good-looking, tall infected as he sent sarcastic remarks to the annoyed Hunter. I saw her face deepen a few shades, and she slunk back slightly, when Smoker looked up at us. It was obvious he had heard his name being spoken.

Smoker looked curiously at us both, and glanced back down at Hunter, who had now stopped ranting, and had fallen silent. Both male infected stared at us we lingered on them with our stares. I took note of Hunters hasty breathing, as he stared at me intently.

"_What?" _I over-confidently spat at them both, sending the confused Smoker a light grin, but more or less scowling at Hunter. I wasn't very happy with him.

With no reply, Smoker came forward and stood in front of me and Delilah, he smiled sweetly at the other girl and looked back at me quizzically,

"_Who's this?" _He said, motioning to the blushing girl,

"_Her name is Delilah," _I grinned, "_She's freshly turned and in need of friends," _

I heard the long-tongued, pretty girl shift behind me as Smoker introduced himself and the couple dove deep into conversation. I smiled to myself and stepped aside so the couple could get a little closer.

Now I was in full view of Hunter, and I bashfully stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets.

Hunter glared at me with all intent of worry and hate, and he hastily clenched his fists. He tromped towards me through the grass and daisies, until we were basically nose to nose.

I held my breath, not wanting to breathe directly into his face. He held his also, obviously not wanting to disturb the silence.

Eventually, the bare chested boy huffed angrily and hissed to me under his held breath,

"_Why did you run away?" _

My reply was snappy and half-hearted,

_"Because you wouldn't believe me... you wouldn't listen,"_

_"I-I Just wasn't sure," _he replied through his teeth, breaking a little from the pressure,

"_Right," _I remarked, removing my hands from deep within my pockets and letting them hang limply at my side,

Hunter held back his breath further and tried too look away from me, but my bright, yellow eyes drew him in closer to me.

"_I'm sorry," _He whispered, glancing down, "_I mean it," _

Without another word and before I could reply, Hunter reached out and wrapped his arms around my own. Tightly bringing my into an awkward hug.

Speechless, I began to stutter. Totally taken aback at what the male infect was doing.

What the hell _was _he doing?

I tried to push away, but Hunters' strength stopped me from doing so. Strangely enough, he pressed his body close to mine and sunk his head deep into my shoulder and neck.

"_I missed you so much," _He moaned quietly, savouring my smell, "_...and I'm sorry,"_

He shifted in his grasp, and I patted him jerkily on the back, unsure of what to do. He gripped onto me tightly. It was like he wasn't someone that hugged.

I had seen my elder human owners embrace many times, and I think it was done differently to how Hunter percepted it.

I shook my head and giggled lightly, managing to push away from the confused Hunter. He stood back gingerly as I reassured him and looked at him a little slyly.

Moving back into Hunters arms, I placed my hands around under his arms and rested my hands onto his upper back. He held his breath and wrapped his arms around the upper of my own, pulling back my hood and tangling his fingers in my hair.

Now he let out his prolonged breath, and settled deeply in our embrace. I didn't, or couldn't, feel his heartbeat, as it was inexistent through our infection, but as I summated; if he was human, his heartbeat would be stronger than ever.

After a few moments, we pulled away, both embarrassed largely. I looked up to find Smoker and Delilah deep in conversation, Smoker with his hand intertwined with hers.

I smiled, and looked back up at the dark hared boy; his features were glowing, compared to his previously pale, aggressive complexion.

Now the wind was picking up, and a chilled breeze made my skin tingle slightly. I looked over at Hunter, curious to how he was reacting to the weather change. He looked cold, much colder than usual. He was shivering slightly, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

Without a moment's hesitation, I removed my jacket and stepped closer to the boy. I handed him my clothing with a swift gesture and smiled as he looked down at me quietly,

"_You can have it back," _I said, "_You look cold,"_

He took the jacket and grinned,

"_Thanks,"_

He sounded much more confident now.

After we had organised ourselves, we all rushed back to Hunters house to shield from a growing storm. My senses reared at every oncoming phase of rain.

I sat casually in front of the open window, letting the shearing rain pour out onto my face; each cold droplet splashing onto my forehead and cheeks. Smoker was lounging on the worn sofa, Delilah was searching through the pile of clothes, and Hunter was napping on his duvets.

My thoughts trailed on the moments before, the heart-warming hug that me and Hunter shared, the turning of Delilah, and the growing friendship between Delilah and Smoker. Errgh, it's all too much to take in at once.

I quietly stood up and stretched accordingly, making my way over to Delilah. She greeted me with a brief smile, but instantly carried on rifling back through the pile of clothes for something cleaner.

"_Hey, Shadow," _The girl said as she worked, "_Y'know Hunter?"_

I nodded in response, looking back over my shoulder towards the sleeping Hunter,

"_He likes you," _she replied bluntly, grinning to herself as she worked.

I grinned also, because I knew it was true, but kept the emotions to myself and turned on my heel. Headed to Smoker.

The lanky boy greeted me warmly and I sat beside him quietly. The smoking boy coughed and sent me a sideways glance, grinning as he went.

"_I saw what you and Hunter had going on earlier," _He winked to me, earning from me a brisk smile and a wink; to which I replied, with a blush;

"_Yeah__? Well I saw what happened with you and Delilah over there," _I made a pointing motion to the busy girl,

"_Haha, Yeah," _he replied, the tone in his voice dissipating.

A comfortable silence fell over us both and I waited silently for something to happen, maybe, Hunter would wake up. That's what I hoped for anyhow.

I stood up and lumbered over to the boy on the duvet, holding my breath slightly as I kneeled down beside his curled form. My hands twitched slightly as I raised it up, and rested it down onto his shoulder. He was completely switched off and didn't respond my touch. I noted how warm he looked with my jacket on.

My conscience yelled at me as I leant in towards Hunters still face, half shrouded from his hoody.

My lips parted as I cornered his own. As our lips touched, an icy chill sprung up from deep inside me, and I shivered accordingly. The peck of a kiss woke up the sleeping Hunter, and I reeled back instantly. My lips twitched, his essence still lingering on the soft skin.

"_Hello," _I said quietly to the hooded boy,

"_Hi," _He replied, confused at my appearance before him, _"Can I help you?"_

I stood up and away from the boy, as he sat up and stretched his arms. Bashfully, I slunk back a little and shook my head. A little shocked at my movements.

Had I just kissed Hunter?

...And he had no idea...


	12. Love,,

**A/N: Just thought I'd tell you guys that this is the second to last chapter! _Yes! There is only one more after this! _Which means I need a big **_EIGHT_**Reviews before I post it! I _Will _wait, I'm not gonna be soppy and just post it early ;)**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews, you guys are awesome!**

**~Emma**

**XxX**

Twelve

"_There! Shadow! Go!"_

I obeyed Hunter and propelled myself through the air. My toned legs throwing me closer and closer too our prey. My ears twitched and I heard Delilah and Smoker upon a roof nearby, readying their selves for the kill.

Hunter was far behind me, and I strove to impress him. Landing and Leaping quicker and quicker. At first I was unsure where the prey lie, but now I had a point Blanc view of them; they looked like total noobs that knew nothing about survival.

With one last blast of effort, my legs threw me forward, and I bore my teeth, unsheathed my claws, and braced my legs as I was about to come in contact with one of the four humans. I heard Hunters' telltale call as he followed suit.

Two long tongues appeared from the distance as both Delilah and Smoker snared their victims.

I landed on the male before me, and mechanically began tearing at his chest.

I didn't take the time to look at him face, as I was staring at his chest as I tore it open.

Now, I glanced at his face, as his screams were muffled by his team-mates own. I grinned to myself as I noted his facial expressions. They were of pure pain and displeasure.

His mouth foamed with the red substance I was so desperate to reach in his guts.

Now my prey was dead, and I fed greedily on his insides. Hunter had now killed his own dinner and so had Delilah and Smoker. Although she was highly reluctant, Delilah eventually fell into the power of bloodlust and ate her prey quickly.

After finishing our well-earned meal, our group sauntered onwards, just for the hell of being dead bored.

"_Soo," _Delilah began, striking up a conversation, "_Where we headed?"_

_"Dunno," _I replied, shrugging lightly,

"_I guess we could go to the arcade, there's one nearby," _Smoker suggested, walking ahead a little.

I grinned, my human owners once took me to a beach for a run-around, and I remember seeing the amusements from the outside, in. The flashing lights, cheerful high-pitched songs, and the happy faces of the humans that exited the building. It seemed like a lot of fun.

_"It's just down the road," _Smoker stated, automatically leading us to an extremely abandoned looking part of the town, litter was strewn across the damp roads, and overturned cars loitered the pathways and car parks.

"_This is cheery," _Hunter muttered, stuffing his hands into his, _my, _jacket pockets.

Smoker frolicked around slightly and turned to face us, walking backwards.

"_Wait till you see what's inside here!"_

I turned to Delilah, who was trundling along behind us, deep in thought. I asked her what was wrong, and her reply was quiet and hard to make out.

"_I can't remember what an arcade is..." _She moaned, looking up to me with worry striking deep through her eyes, "_I'm forgetting everything..."_

I motioned her into a friendly hug and sympathetically patted her on the back; she sobbed lightly into my cold shoulder and covered her face with her hands.

Smoker jogged over to us, and was about to start complaining about us falling back behind the group, when he saw Delilah crying into my shoulder. He instantly dropped his sarcastic grin and placed a thin hand on Delilah's arm.

"_What's up, sweetheart?" _He asked, trying desperately too look into Delilah's eyes, "_Tell me," _She continued too sob into my shoulder, but was hasty to switch it with Smokers.

The two stood in a tight hug as Delilah explained her problems to Smoker, and left me standing watching them. It was nice enough, knowing they both had someone to go too for reassurance and help, when the other was in need.

I felt someone brush past me, and I twisted my head in surprise too see Hunter briskly walking back in the direction of his house. I furrowed by brow deeply and walked over to Smoker, whose eyes were closed tight. I stood up to his ear and said to him;

"_I'm going to go follow Hunter, He's gone off in a humph,"_

Smoker opened an eye and peered down at me curiously, and gave me a sly nod of confirmation. With that notion, I was bounding after Hunter, calling his name every now and then.

"_Hunter!" _I chorused, waiting a few seconds for a reply, "_Hunter?"_

I stopped abruptly, something rustled nearby but I couldn't make out where from, I looked around slightly and kept my stance still.

The trees towered up around me, in every direction I chose too look in, there was always a tall, thick tree blocking my way. My distant pulse hammered in the back of my head and I looked around myself worriedly, the growing feeling of being watched soon overwhelmed my status.

_"Hello?" _Was now the phrase that I called, in replace of Hunters' name. It echoed slightly as the sound rebounded off the dark brown trees.

The silence was quick to envelope me, and my body hazed over with the awkward feeling of anticipation. Like I knew something was going to happen sooner or later, something that was bad. If I still had a tail, it would sure be between my legs.

Another rustle. I raised my head and stared upwards, that's where it was coming from. The noise, that is.

I squinted, my vision only reaching halfway or so up the entire span of the trees.

Something was moving up there.

My stomach lurched, and I planted my feet deep in the soil under me, bracing myself for whatever was too come.

It lunged, the thing. Its arms were outstretched and it wore a long, twisted grin.

_"Shaaadoooowww!" _It called happily as the boy landed directly on top of me, sending me sprawling.

We ended with me underneath him, and the being lying on top of me, his nose pressed against mine, and his eyes full of joy.

_"H-Hunter?" _I stammered, scared at his stupidly awkward change of emotions.

_"Shadowww," _his sing-song voice whispered back to me, his oddly warm breath ticking my lips.

Hunters' clawed finger lightly trailed down my cheek, and he raised himself up off from my body a little, too give me some space.

I remained silent, staring into his gleaming yellow eyes; taken aback so much that I could've fainted. What the hell was Hunter doing?

_"I knew you'd follow me!" _He grinned, _"I knew you'd come too see if I was okay," _

_"Uh, yeah?" _I suggested, quite unsure of what too say to him at the precise moment.

_"Great," _He smirked, getting up off of me and helping me too my feet. Instead of dropping my hands so they settled back down at my side, he kept a firm grip on them. He swung our arms too and fro between as, staring into my eyes all the while.

He shuffled a little closer, bringing my arms up too his chest.

"_Do you like me, as much as I think you do?"_

My reply was instant;

_"Yes."_

_"That's all I needed to hear," _

Now the infected was absolutely gleaming from ear too ear, he was smiling so hard that looked like he was about to burst. His nose flared as he took in my scent and hugged me close.

We remained in a tight embrace until Hunter pulled away and looked at me, much more seriously this time. His eyes were icy and cool.

"_I was awake last night,"_

Not quite getting him, I tilted my head to the side. I merely earned a slight grin from the boy,

_"When you kissed me,"_

Oh god.

_"I-I Didn't... I wasn't... I-"_

_"Sssh," _He cooed, placing a clawed finger on my lips, and then gently pushing my head inwards towards his. He closed his eyes, as did I, through an odd instinct. Almost instantly, I felt his icy cold lips against my own. My heart and stomach clenched in unison, and my hands wrapped themselves around Hunters' back. One was around his waist and the other oddly began stroking and caressing his hair.

He bit my lower lip gently, and in accordance to this, I opened my mouth, a little stunned.

Hunter dove into my mouth with his tongue, and explored it thoroughly. He growled to me from the bottom of his throat, and I replied with the same as I somewhat copied his motions with my own tongue.

We didn't pull away, as we had no need for breath, but eventually we stopped. Hunter looked pleased with himself, and held me close, pecking me with kisses across my cheeks, forehead, and lips. He planted a last, small kiss, upon my nose and came away triumphant.

_"I've... wanted to do that... so long," _He panted, smiling so hard I swear his lips could rip in half.

I grinned slyly and moved in towards his face,

_"My go," _I hissed, bending in closer and planting a tight, yet eligible kiss directly onto his lips. The quick embrace was instantly savoured by both of us, and I pulled away quickly.

_"Good," _He commented, sending me a sideways glance as he looked off behind me.

He looked back at me. His lips tightly pushed together.

_"Should we get headed back to the others?" _I eventually spoke, after a while of staring at the boy.

_"Okay," _He said calmly, almost reluctantly, taking me by the hand, and walking me back through the woods towards Smoker and Delilah. They were no-where to be seen. I could hear some whoops coming from the arcade, and I and Hunter assumed they were already playing without us.

I and Hunter, hand in hand, ran to catch up with the other duo, so we could join in the fun of the arcade.

All I could conjure up in my mind was how it felt too finally hold his hand. It wasn't clammy, sweaty or as icy cold as I expected. It was lukewarm. Like us being together, or even the mere thought, was what powered him to feel happy. It was what made him grow warm inside.


	13. Remember,,

**The LASSTTT CHAPPPTTERRR! :'( **

**Thatnks to all those readers that have been reading + reviewing from the start... you all know it was you guys that edged me on to acctually finish a story for once !**

**Love and Ramen to all those reviewers!**

**Mwahh! ... please enjoy... I hope it's good...**

**~I can try with'a little help from mah friends!~**

****Thanks for the idea for the last chapter, **Scorpion 123456**! You have been a dedicated reviewer from the beginning!****

**Hugs and kisses to everyone else too! **

**~Emma**

**XxxX**

**Oh, and for **sammycucumber **I made her more doggish. happy?**

Me and Hunter walked cautiously into the arcade. Our senses pricking as the many high pitched sounds that were ringing out all around us.

"_I didn't think an arcade would ever be so loud_," I said mostly to myself, standing close to Hunter for protection and for some form of comfort in the awkward place.

_"...same..." _Hunter said solemnly, removing his hand from over my shoulder and crouching low so his arms were curved in a menacing way and his hands were poised in a claw shape. The boy crept forward slowly, and poked his head around the edge of one of the large, colourful machines. It was off, and I presumed that it would behold some form of colour in light when switched on.

Hunters' back arched slightly, but he soon sat onto his legs and sighed,

"_They're here_," He grinned back to me, before standing up, stretching, and making his way over to where the other special infected stood and sat, crowded around a large, blank, flat box.

"_What is it?" _Smoker coughed as he ran his thin fingers across the smooth, black screen. I watched, as I approached the group, as they tried to figure out what the box did.

Smoker must of pressed something correct, because the box's face instantly lit up with an array of colours. I was unsure of what was on the screen, but it sure looked interesting.

Now we were all practically standing with our eyes glued to the screen. It was so bright, and drew us in as a bug zapper would do to flies.

A small, white oblong beside the box lit up with a green circle, and the big box's face changed, and an orb floated across it for a few moments, and was surely replaced by a video. We all watched intently as we observed some boxy looking humans talking about chocolate, helicopters, 'sonofabitch'-es, and coaches. The whole odd human scene ended with a flash and was replaced by a menu of some kind, according to Boomer.

"_Yeah," _He confirmed, _"This is a vidogame," _

"_A vidogame?"_ Everyone repeated in unison, looking in dumbfoundment at the screen as it blared to us a video of our own kind. The stumbling infected people walked under and around some text, that said "Start a single player campaign". Now, I have no idea what a single player means, or what it even says, but I'm guessing it was important. Because Boomer picked up a small green glowing box and clicked a few buttons. The vidogame then instantly came to life, It's screen changed as boomer mashed the same key all through the charade of 'menu's.

The vidogame stopped making us suffer from epilepsy, and now we all squinted at the screen further.

_"Is that.."_ Boomer started, sitting back as he realised, "_this vidogame... is a game about a group of humans that... kill us_!"

All of our faces dropped and we all ran back in firght, hiding behind the arcade machines.

My hand automatically moved to intertwine with Hunters', but I withdrew it when I saw him glance at me harshly. Now wasn't the time, I guessed.

I raised my head and sniffed a little, my canine like senses coming into action. I growled lowly when there was barely any scent of humans radiating from their moving pictures on the screen.

"_It's clear,"_ me and Hunter said in unison, he must of been doing the same as me.

I moved away from hunter silently and edged on all fours towards the box. It made no attempt to attack or startle me, so my senses corrected me with the thoughts of it being legit. It was safe. Now, I turned back to face my comrades, but they were no longer hiding, the were gone. The cheery sounds from some on the arcade games that were switched on, were no longer playing. And the dreaded feeling of being watched surrounded me completely. I swallowed hard and lifted my head, using one hand to pull my hood up and over my dark human hair. A small sense of security.

"_Guys..."_ I said quietly, remaining with my ears literally perked, they were sensitive to every minute sound being made. The whirr of the box, the rats in the corner of the room, and my hastening breathing.

Now I was worried, all my comrades were no-where to be seen, and I was alone in a creepy arcade.

I slunk forward, bracing my hands, and arching my back, at every sound that seemed to move closer to me.

"_Hello?" _I called out, stretching my torso upwards to recieve a better look of my surroundings. Nothing but arcade-ness.

Lurching forwards, step by step, I eventually managed to get out of the arcade, and I stood up tall. Everything arround me looked much more surreal. Much more... different?

I heard something behind me, but I turned to see nothing. I let a hasty growl escape through my thin lips as I turned back to face the open wide space of the centre of the town. I stared blankly at something that stood about 30 foot away from me. It was black from head to toe, save the grey slashes of colour down it's chest, stomach, and back. It's longue lolled out of it's mouth as it panted. And it shook it's jet black fur with a shiver.

I raised my head and looked down at the beast. It was not infected, it's eyes were not yellow. As I raised my human head, the muzzle of the large beast raised too. I flared my nostrils and took a drowsy step forward. My ever so acute balance failing me. The beast took a sturdy step forward exactly with me.

I held my head with a single hand, letting my fuzzy sight wander off of the dog for a few moments, and I stared at the ground.

The _tick tick tick _of claws aroused my suspision of the beast as it drew ever-so-much-more closer to me. Now I was on my knees. My hands planted against the moist ground, mud and stones sticking to my cold skin. My head throbbed with fear and anticipation. The beast was now beside me and was panting into my ear.

What was happening to me, why did I feel faint? Why did it seem that everything made no sense... Where was hunter?

I fell to the ground with a thud. I winced, although I felt no pain.

With effort, I managed to roll myself flat onto my back, and I stared up at the sky, it was a murky grey.

The silhouette of the animal came into sight and it stared at me onimously with those large, all-seeing eyes. Then was the moment I realised.

I was staring at myself.

_"No!"_ I said suddenly, out-loud, causing the dog to flinch back slightly, "_Go away! Your not me!"_

_"_Oh yes I am," Said the dog, into my head. It's jaws remaining clamped shut.

"_No!"_

_"_Yes."

The persistant dog, that was me, opened it's jaws to reveal two sets of gleaming white teeth. I held my non-existant breath and cringed as it moved in closer to me. It eventually pulled me into some form of sleep, and I vaguelly recall her jaws reaching in and clamping around my neck.

As I fell unconcious, I had the odd feeling of ... well, nothing. I wanted Hunter to be there, but in some ways, I knew he was. It was like he was a ghost or something stupid like that. Well, maybe he was a ghost, considering zombies exist.

I tried to move my body, but It was frozen still. I was overcome by the feeling of angst, and dread, which when both combined, pulled me into unconsciousness.

My eyes flew open, and almost instantly, I clicked.

I thrust my body up and forward, my claws unsheathed and my teeth bared. I snapped my jaws menacingly incase something was trying to attack me. Then I stood, frozen, waiting for my sight to acctually return.

"Hey, Hey, Hey! Pookie!" A voice rung out, it was fresh and familiar.

I felt a hand stroking my head and another pair scratching my back.

I looked up at the people who surrounded me, they were much taller than I, and their faces were peachy and warm. I looked past them too see the sky, it was bright blue, and many birds were zipping umong the clouds like there was no tomorrow.

"C'mon, baby, wassup?" A male voice sounded from behind, and I turned to see who was scratching me. His face was hidden behind a red hood, but his mouth was smiling and his teeth were... normal.

Humans?

I sniffed a little, they smelt normal, Like any human would. I had no urge to eat them or slash at them or anything... Infact, I felt different too.

I looked down at my feet. They were jet black paws, standing on some grass. I licked around my muzzle and felt black fur also. My eyes and hearing were still acute, but nothing compared to the infected senses.

I was a dog. An _alive _dog.

With a little hope, I looked up at the girl who was still stroking my head. When I made eye contact, she began to scratch under my chin, making me lift my head in awe. She began to speak.

"How's my baby been? Out here all tied up?" She played with the fur on my ears, "You wanna meet my cousin? Yes you do! Yes you do!"

Cousin? I turned to look at the boy, he smiled again but stayed silent. I turned back to the girl, my memory ticking over suddenly with sounds and pictures from some distant thought.

Her name was Sara. She used to own me before the apocolypse began. She has long, straight, blonde hair that reaches to her waist. She loves me, I am her pet dog. Her nickname for me is 'Pookie'.

Oh my god.

I jumped forward in ecstatic happiness, my tail wagging furiously and my ears arched upwards. My weight knocked her over and I began to lick her face with my rough tongue as I lay ontop of her. She yelled out in protest, but eventually gave in and started to laugh. My happy mood rose when I removed myself from her and let out the rest of my glee onto her cousin, I knocked him over so he was on his back and his hood fell off. I closed my eyes and licked his warm-skinned face to death as he chuckled and attempted to push me off of him.

He sat up and looked me in the eye, his own gleaming green eys shining more.

My tail stopped wagging and my beating heart throbbed louder in the back of my ears.

This boy... no way.

He had soft looking, pale skin. Messy brown hair that fell over his shining green eys. He had a recogniseable smirk and the broad jawline that I could only apply to one person. Hunter.

"Hunter!" I barked, "Hunter! Hunter! Hunter!"

The boy only stared at me face on with a smile, he looked up at Sara then back down to me.

"I think she likes me!" he said to her. Yes. Definately Hunter, his voice was the same, except a little less gruff. Oh my god.

I sat back on my haunches and studied his eyes for any recognition of me. There was none. Nevertheless my tail continued to wag as my owner, her cousin, and I all began to jump around my garden as if there was no such thing as a zombie apocolypse. Eventually, after an hour or so of playing, me and the two teenage humans were laying down on the grass, all tired out from the running. Sara's cousin was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, like Hunter used too. Sara was doing the same but with one hand on her stomach.

"C'mon Toby, We have to go in for dinner," Sara puffed, hauling herself to her feet, and helping up her cousin. I remained laying on my stomach with my head raised, watching as my owner and her relative walked off towards the sliding doors to her kitchen, where I saw her mother laying our the dishes.

I sighed momentarily to myself and watched as Hunter, or Toby, moved further away from me,

"Hunter," I dreamily said to myself, out loud, aware no-one would be able to understand me. The word and the thought made me consider the very existance of the zombie apocolypse. Was it real? Did it even happen?

I continued watching the couple as the entered through the door. My head cocked when Toby turned to face me. He winked and waved at the same time, before blowing me a kiss and leaving back through the doors with a sly grin sliding across his face. His eyes looked different, yellow almost.

Oh.

**Agghhh... That was a rubbish ending! ... I don't know... was it any good?**

**... I hope you get what I was trying to say at the end, just there *prods computer screen***

**... Anyhow... I hope you enjoyed this story! **

**I send my love out to all the readers who saved this as their favourite, set it to alert, set ME to their alert and fav's, and to all those wonderful people who left a review.**

**Until next time!**

**~Emma**

**XxX**


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